


What They Saw

by yesyeshyes



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2018-12-08 20:37:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11654280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yesyeshyes/pseuds/yesyeshyes
Summary: The times when other people saw how much Tony and Peter cared about each other, the time when Tony admitted he cared about the kid, and the one when Peter realized it himself. Not necessarily in that order.Basically: Have a bunch of Marvel characters tell you how adorable Peter and Tony are around each other!





	1. One: What Ned Saw

**One:**

**What Ned saw.**

It happened out of nowhere, so sudden and swift that Ned’s brain had to take a few minutes to collect itself before his body burst into action.

“C’mon, Peter, c’mon.” he encouraged, manhandling his best friend into a nearby restroom, feeling wretched when he heard Peter whimper. “You can do it, _c’mon_.”

It was a miracle that the episode happened minutes after lunch break, so there was a mild stampede of busy students making a beeline towards their respective classrooms, leaving Ned and Peter to navigate around the crowd of people with one of them dragging the other.

Some had thrown annoyed looks when Peter or Ned bumped into them. Flash had even let out an indignant, “Watch it, Penis!”, but in the end no one got in their way, and finally Ned had his best friend propped up on the wall of the restroom.

“Peter?” Ned tentatively asked.

He was ignored. Peter had immediately curled up on himself, putting his forehead against his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs, back heaving as he took in deep breaths - and Ned had never seen his best friend so small. It was difficult to see Spider-Man when Peter was like this.

It had to be an anxiety attack. It was something Ned had read somewhere in the prolific fanfictions he’d paged through, but he only ever really scanned it, and now he was regretting it so bad because he had no idea how to help.

“Peter, can you hear me?” He tried again, reaching out a hand to place it on Peter’s back, but it had been a wrong move.

Peter flinched violently away from him, scrambling backwards on all fours until his back hit the corner of the room with a loud sound. Ned was sure it had dented, but damage to school property was the last thing on his mind when Peter put both hands on top of his ears and closed his eyes and just started _sobbing_.

“Oh god oh god oh god.” Ned chanted, feeling horrified at his uselessness and being completely out of his element. He was supposed to be Peter’s best friend and he couldn’t even _help_ and oh god he needed an adult-

He had been seconds from leaving Peter and hunting down their school nurse when there was suddenly loud music playing through one of Peter’s pockets. The sound had Peter crumpling against himself more, and Ned had the wherewithal to clamber as close as he dared towards Peter, and then snatched his phone from his hoodie’s pocket.

Ned answered the phone without looking at the caller ID and barely had the phone on his ear when somebody barked, “Peter, what’s happening? Your vitals are off the charts – “

“He’s having an anxiety attack.” Ned stammered out, feeling like he should know who this voice was, but he was too scattered to focus. “He’s – he just shut down suddenly after lunch and he’s hunched in on himself and crying and _I don’t know what to do_ \- “

“Calm down!” the guy on the line ordered, and Ned immediately fell silent. “What’s your name?”

“I’m – My name’s Ned.” He gulped, trying to put a rein on his emotions. “I’m Peter’s friend.”

“Alright, Ned, I need you to do as I say.” The guy continued calmly, and his voice was the steady ground Ned had needed. “You need to stay in front of Peter. You have to be in his line of sight, but do _not_ touch him. Are you alone? You told me it’s after lunch break.”

“I locked us in the men’s room.” Ned answered, shuffling backward so that he was indeed facing Peter and as far away as he could be. “We’re alone and I’m in front of Peter. What else do I do?”

“Good, good. Now, I need you to talk to him. Keep talking, don’t stop, any topic would do. Make sure your voice sounds okay, because if you panic Peter’s going to panic as well if not more. Do you understand?”

“But what do I _say_?” Ned asked, aghast and floundering.

“Anything.” He answered back steadily, and there was the sound of cars honking on his side of the phone. “You’re Peter’s guy in the chair, right? You know him better than anyone. You’ll think of something. Just remember: Peter’s counting on you right now.”

Ned gulped. “Okay. Okay. I’m – I’m calming down. I’ll talk to him.”

“You’re doing good, Ned. I’m on my way to your school as we speak, expect me there in five minutes or less. Hopefully. Fu - freaking traffic. Now put Peter’s phone on vibrate, I’ll call you when I’m there.” And then he ended the call.

“Right.” Ned said, pocketing the phone and then stared at Peter’s hunched form. He was starting to rock himself, and it took every inch of Ned’s will-power not to make his voice crack. “I have no idea who that guy was, Peter, but he sure sounded like a cool adult. How come you know so many cool adults? It’s already so unfair that you know Tony Stark. The only person I know who’s like that is probably my mom.”

“Speaking of moms, do you know what the current fan theory on Princess Leia is? I mean, I have no idea what they’re going to do now Carrie Fischer’s gone, but they should make some proper farewell to her character on the movie, you know? Nothing like what they’re planning to do on Chekov’s character on the Star Trek reboot, some kind of unexplained absence, I dunno. Maybe they could do that thing on Fast and Furious? That’d be cool. And sad, but the fans deserve some kind of closure –“

On and on Ned went, jumping from topic to topic, spouting off the first thing that came to mind and just going with it. He didn’t know if he was helping, but after a while Peter stopped rocking. He was still doubled over though, and Ned ached to at least put a hand on his shoulder, because Peter looked like he needed a kind touch, but Ned trusted the guy he’d been talking to and stayed right where he was.

It hadn’t even reached the four-minute mark when the phone Ned had been holding started vibrating madly. He answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

“I’m outside the door, open up.” Was the terse reply, but Ned took no offense.

“Okay, lemme just wrap this up first.” Ned promised, and then stared back at Peter. “Hey Peter, the guy I’ve been talking to on your phone is right outside the door. I’ll let him inside, okay? He can help.”

Peter didn’t say anything, didn’t give any indication that he heard, but Ned took it as an agreement. Stumbling to his feet and ignoring the pin and needle feeling on his legs, Ned jogged towards the door and swung it open.

Somehow, it was still a surprise to see Tony Stark in the flesh, standing right outside his school comfort room wearing an expensive suit with sunglasses hanging from his breast pocket. He was sweating a little – Ned knew that this restroom was a few ways away from the front entrance, and he must have run all the way from there.

Tony Stark, breathing a little heavily, barely glanced his way before he honed in on Peter curled up on the corner. Ned was standing right in front of Iron Man, and as such was witness to the emotion that flared brightly on his face, before a strangled sound escaped his throat.

There was an equally strangled sound behind Ned, and when he turned around, he saw Peter looking straight at Mr. Stark with his eyes wide and welling up still, and Ned swiftly stood to the side so that Peter could stare at the superhero without him blocking the view. It was the first reaction Ned had seen him do in a while.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter hoarsely asked, sounding disbelieving and bewildered. His eyes weren’t quite focused on him, even though he was staring right at the older man.

“Hey, kiddo.” Tony Stark finally said, voice calm and steady, not unlike the way he’d talked to Ned on the phone, only with more feeling behind.

Peter sucked in a ragged breath, and it sounded like a sob. He’s starting to curl in on himself again, and as Ned watched he saw how his backbone jutted out of his hoodie in a painful manner. “I’m sorry.” He gasped, “I – I’m. You should – go. I’m so sorry, I don’t know why- “

“It’s okay, Peter.” Mr. Stark cut in, voice gentle. He moved slowly, telegraphing his movements almost exaggeratedly, but it seemed like what Peter needed. Ned quietly shut the door as Tony Stark stepped inside the restroom and crouched down right on the entrance, expensive shoes squeaking on the tiles.

“It’s gonna be okay.” Mr. Stark continued. “You’ll be okay. You have to continue breathing, okay? One two three four, one two three four. Just copy me, alright?”

Mr. Stark started breathing in and out, emphasizing the actions, and slowly but surely, Peter’s breathing matched that of the superhero’s. He was staring at the older man the entire time, clinging to Mr. Stark’s actions like a life-line, and after a while Tony held out a hand.

“I’m going to come closer to you. Is that okay, Peter? Are you okay with that? I’m not going to hurt you I promise.”

He did what he said when Peter tentatively nodded, duck-walking awkwardly towards Ned’s friend. He was a foot away and had a hand reaching out for Peter when the teenager flinched violently.

“Okay, okay.” Mr. Stark whispered, holding both hands out. “I’ll stay right here. I won’t come closer until you say so, kid.”

“I’m sorry.” Peter sobbed, tightening his arms around his knees. “I’m – I know you won’t – I was doing fine and someone dropped their school project and – and it had steel frames and I thought the building was going to collapse on me and– “

“It’s okay, Peter, I understand.” Mr. Stark soothed, projecting calm and reassurance, but Ned who was behind him saw how he clenched both of his fist until it was bloodless. “It’s not your fault- “

“-and now I interrupted you at work and I feel like such a _baby_ \- “Peter moaned, crying once again, and Ned finally felt his own tears falling.

“You’re not, kid.” Mr. Stark said before he could continue in a downward spiral. “You’re not a baby. You’re a brave guy who’s going to grow up better than anyone I’ve ever met and you’re _going to be okay_. Okay? You’ll get through this. I’ll help you with it, I promise.”

The promise that he wouldn’t be alone in handling everything made Peter stop crying, and there was hope blooming in his eyes, Ned could see it. “But – I’m not – “he whispered.

“You are.” Mr. Stark sounded so sure. “Can I come closer now, Peter?”

There was a beat of silence, and Peter nodded. Slowly, as not to startle him, Mr. Stark placed a steady hand on top of Peter’s head. Peter released a deep, shuddering breath, the sound clearly audible on the silent room.

Mr. Stark dragged Peter back to himself, crouched beside him with one arm around Peter’s shoulders and the other hand buried in his hair, murmuring in his ear. Peter leaned forward against Mr. Stark as if depending on the older man to hold him up, still trembling violently.

When the superhero said, “It’s gonna be okay, kid”, Peter buried his face on Mr. Stark’s shoulder and cried.

-

Later, when Peter stopped crying, Mr. Stark had Ned tell their principal that Peter was going to be taken home. Ned had agreed, because Peter had not been keen on letting the guy go, and anyways Principal Morita seemed to believe Ned.

Taking a pit stop on their Science class to scoop up Peter’s abandoned backpack and ignoring everyone’s stares, Ned jogged outside the school parking lot to where Mr. Stark had left his Audi. On any other instance Ned would have been salivating all over the gorgeous car, but as it was he only made sure that his best friend was safely on the passenger seat before facing Mr. Stark.

“Thanks for all your help, Ned.” Mr. Stark said, shouldering Peter’s backpack. “You did a stellar job back there; I can definitely see why Peter likes you so much.”

There was a huge wet patch on his suit, his trousers had creases on them from where he’d been kneeling on the floor and he had Peter’s ratty bag on one shoulder, but he seemed so put-together and such a dependable adult that Ned didn’t have any doubts on leaving his best friend in Iron Man’s care.

But there was a question burning on the back of his mind, and the awe of seeing a real life superhero had dimmed from seeing how human Mr. Stark had been when he interacted with Peter, that Ned couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“How’d you know Peter needed help?” Ned asked, and then gulped when Mr. Stark stared back at him. “I mean, Peter told me you haven’t been in contact for a while after everything that happened with Aunt May and you’ve been so busy with the Accords and –“

Before Ned could write a novel and embarrass himself further, Tony Stark interrupted. “Kid.” He said, smiling wryly. “Just because you don't see me doesn't mean that I'm not around.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is obviously un-beta'd. I'm pretty sure I switched tenses around at some point, but I cannot for the life of me find it. If there's something wrong about the grammar, or if you think I'm getting a little out of character - tell me. I love constructive criticism!
> 
> I have around five chapters already written, and I have no idea where I'm supposed to stop. The outlines are all there, but the one big glaring problem is that I have med school in, like, three days so I have no idea when this is going to be finished.
> 
> But I love Peter and Tony's paternal relationship too much and it's not going to go any time soon.


	2. Two: What Rhodey Saw

**Two:**

**What Rhodey saw.**

It was the first time James had used War Machine ever since he lost the use of his legs, and it had been liberating and terrifying all at once.

There had been a call for the remaining Avengers somewhere near Queens – apparently there was a hostage situation taking place inside a train and the hostage takers were armed heavily. There were close to ten civilians, women and children included, and his stupid ass best friend had taken one look at the news, stared at his phone, paled alarmingly before standing up, pieces of the Iron Man armor already sticking to him before he’d even reached the landing pad.

Tony had flown there first and was probably already breaking the sound barrier without waiting for a goddamn back-up, because Vision was off doing his part on smoothing down the Accords in DC and James hadn’t been anywhere near his semi-bionic legs when the news came.

“Tony!” James shouted once he was safely enclosed inside War Machine, gunning his repulsors to its fastest capability. “Tony, goddamit, wait for me!”

“Yeah, no thanks.” Tony flippantly said.

But James knew Tony well enough when there was something more he was hiding. “Alright, spill it. I get why you’re so urgent, but I know there’s more to this.”

There were a few seconds of silence, before Tony reluctantly said, “The kid’s already on site.”

“What the hell?” James demanded. Tony had never revealed Spider-Man’s identity to anyone, not even him. He knew Tony was looking out for the kid, had Happy monitoring his comings and goings around his area of responsibility, but James knew enough that their youngest superhero was in no way ready to handle a bunch of organized criminals who had no compunction about killing kids.

“Why isn’t he on the comms?” He demanded, urging his thrusters faster, even if it was already at its fastest.

“Because he’s not in his goddamn suit, Rhodey!” Tony shouted, finally sounding agitated. “He’s on that fucking train as a civilian, I _know_ , I have a tracker on his phone.”

“Oh, _Jesus_.”

“ETA thirty seconds.” Tony said instead, and if James didn’t know any better he would have thought the Iron Man suit was capable of warping, with Tony arriving on the scene so fast.

“This kid better not be doing anything heroic.” Tony growled, and then James heard the sound of glass breaking through the comms. “Hello, citizens! I have come to parley.”

Cursing up a storm, James ordered FRIDAY to pull up a feed of the Iron Man armor on his HUD.

Everyone was lying on the floor, and the only ones’ standing were the criminals with their guns aimed at the civilians. James noted that there were five armed gunners. Intel stated that all of them were concentrated on one compartment, because a brave teenager apparently had barricaded them inside using the wiring of the train, and James was going to go out on a limb and bet that this was Spider-Man himself.

“Alright, let’s all be calm here.” Tony said, hands out. Unfortunately, the hostage takers took this as an aggressive move, and suddenly one armed guy had jabbed his gun against the back of a teenager he was keeping in place on the floor with a foot.

“Oh, _fuck_.” James hissed, and then started to call the authorities to get their asses on that train _yesterday_.

The kid looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, with a bruise slowly forming on one visible cheek and wide brown eyes staring guiltily at the Iron Man helmet. Not terrified, or panicking. Guiltily.

Mother _fuck_ , Spider-Man was a baby. James was going to murder Tony.

“Okay! Okay.” Tony raised his arms upward so that the palms of the suit faced the roof of the train. “Not a smart move, I get it. Let’s not shoot any people, okay?”

“Get out of your suit.” The gunner holding the kid grunted.

“Excuse me?”

“No!”

“Shut up!” The gunman kicked the teenager on the stomach, and James could practically hear Tony gritting his teeth through the comms. “I said get out of your suit, Stark! Or else I shoot this kid’s brains out.”

“But- “Spider-Man started, but Tony was already disengaging the armor. He walked out with both hands raised, and Rhodey made sure that Tony heard his whispered, “ETA in two, don’t do anything stupid”, before the stupid-ass faced five armed gunmen weaponless and comless.

“Alright, you got what you wanted. Now let the kid go.” Rhodey heard Tony negotiate through the live feed of the Iron Man armor. With Tony finally vulnerable, one gunman immediately trained his weapon at Tony’s unprotected back.

“Not before you wire us the money.” A second hostage taker said. “We already told you guys what we wanted. Give us that, and nobody gets hurt.”

“They’re wiring it as we speak.” Tony told them calmly, lying without hesitation. “I’m here as a gesture of good-will, all we ask is that you don’t hurt anyone. Capiche?”

“You think we’re going to believe you –“

“I’ll be your hostage.” Tony explained, and James had never wanted to strangle his best friend like he did now. Self-sacrificing _asshole_. No wonder the Spider-Kid did that stunt with the train doors - he had a goddamn role model.

“I’m pretty important, as you well know.” Tony continued, smirking. “The government can’t afford to have me killed. Pretty rough times ahead, if you get my drift.” His statement was met with stares from the gunman and a panicked one from the kid. “So! Are we at an accord?”

Finally, the leader of the group nodded brusquely, and four of them started barking orders for the civilians to leave the train via the hole Tony had punctured through at the start while one stayed at Tony’s back.

While everyone was busy, Tony turned to look at the Iron Man armor still standing at attention. Idiots had no idea how advanced Tony’s technology was and didn’t even bother to make sure it was offline. As Tony watched, Rhodey made FRIDAY flicker the lights on the armor’s eyes once. ETA one minute.

“Colonel Rhodes!” James’ comm crackled. “Our snipers have all four gunners on sight, except for the one who has Mister Stark on gunpoint. Should we proceed?”

“No!” James shouted. “Wait for my signal – I need the civilians to leave first or else we’re going to have a lot of casualties on our hands. Also, don’t aim to kill, just incapacitate. I don’t want those people to have nightmares aside from PTSD.” There was a general murmur of agreement.

The progress was too slow for James’ liking, and through the feed he could see Tony fidgeting. The guy behind him nudged him with the gun, and Tony reluctantly subsided. “Geez, handsy much?”

When it was finally the kid’s turn, he craned his neck backwards to stare anxiously at Tony. At this angle, James could finally see the teenager’s face, and like Tony he was fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie like he was just itching to help the older man out.

“The hell are you looking at?” One guy growled. “Get out!”

“But Mr. Stark- “he called out.

“You’ve been a superhero enough for today, kid.” Tony called out, giving Spider-Man a warning look. “Leave this to the big leagues.”

“I can’t leave you alone with them!” He protested, not knowing how big a grave he was digging the longer he tried to play hero.

“Well, if you want to stay so much.” One gunman took hold of the back of the kid’s jacket and practically flung the teenager at Tony. “Guess you’re going to play hostage with your idol here for a lot while longer, kid.”

Tony caught the teenager in his arms, and while he was still stumbling Tony shoved the kid behind him so that Spider-Man was out of any gun’s range.

“But Mr. Stark, I –“

“You s _tay right behind me_ ” Tony hissed.

James cursed, hoping that Tony would be able to look after his protégé while he and the authorities take care of the hostage-takers. “On my mark!”

“Roger that, Colonel.”

“In three – two – “Adding one last burst to his thrusters, James sailed through one of the train’s windows to rugby tackle the one who had been staying at Tony’s back to the floor. “SHOOT!”

There were four simultaneous sounds of the window shattering, and screams, and when James finally stood up after making sure his mark was unconscious, he saw Tony and the kid on the ground, with the former on top and shielding the kid.

“All clear!” his comm crackled, and it was echoed by three others.

“I’m going to murder you after this, Tones.” James strode towards them and slid his faceplate up so that Tony could see how furious he really was. “You goddamn _idiot_.”

“Oh my god, it’s War Machine.” James heard the kid mumble, looking star struck.

“In my defense- “Tony started after helping the kid up.

“Nothing!” James hissed. “Absolutely nothing excuses the fact that you brought a goddamn _baby_ to Germany –“

“I’m fifteen!” The kid interjected, suddenly looking insulted.

“Yeah exactly, a baby.” James said, before glaring at a wilting Tony. “You – _you_ –“

“You know, Pepper had the same exact reaction as you.” Tony conversationally began, patting the offended kid at the back. “Minus the hostage crisis and this kid present. It’s practically uncanny –“

“Don’t change the subject!” James shouted. “I can’t believe you! After all that thing with the Spencer kid you have the _audacity_ to –“

And James’ would have gone on and on, but apparently the military isn’t training their soldiers right, because suddenly there’s a cock of a loaded gun from behind the three of them. Before James could move, or even the kid, Tony is the first to push the teenager out of the way.

“ _Peter_!”

There’s a deafening bang, and suddenly James’ best friend was on the ground and there was blood as well. It was FRIDAY who took the shot from the Iron Man armor, blasting the offending gunman even before he could aim again.

“Mr. Stark!” came the agonized yell a second later, and James saw the kid – Peter – scrambling towards his fallen mentor. “Oh god oh god Mr. Stark –“

“I’m fine.” Tony groaned when Peter rolled him over, oblivious to the fact that the kid was about to burst into tears and James’ nearly had an aneurysm. “I’m fine, not to worry, just got grazed. But _god_ , that hurts like a bitch. Never get shot, you hear me Pete? Because it’s gonna hurt like hell and your Aunt will be out for my blood- “

“Oh my god!” Peter yelled, before promptly throwing himself bodily at a startled Tony and hugged him. Kid even managed to avoid wound. “Oh my _god_ , I thought you were dead!”

Tony stared bewilderingly at James, looking like he had no idea what to do even as he was already enfolding the sobbing kid in a tentative hug. “Jeez, kid, it’s just on the shoulder. No need to worry! I’m okay.”

“But – but if I haven’t – “Peter managed to say, heaving, and James knew that the shock was finally coming to him.

“Yeah well, it already happened.” Tony soothed, patting the crying boy on top of the head. “For what it’s worth, you did good today. You did good, kiddo.”

That was when the FEDS finally got themselves inside the train to restrain the hostage-takers.

-

Tony eventually managed to coax the EMT’s into letting him recuperate at the compound instead of at the hospital. Since it really was just a graze, the medical team agreed, which led to him, James and the kid on the backseat of one of Tony’s cars.

Peter, after calling his worried aunt and promising that he was okay and that he was with Iron Man and War Machine, had refused to go home when Tony told him to. James would have intervened, but it was absolutely _glorious_ , to see the childish and obnoxious Tony Stark act so paternally around the kid.

Peter looked Tony right in the face and told him flat out, “I’m not leaving you Mr. Stark.”

“Your Aunt May is worried sick – “Tony argued.

“She already knows I’m alright and that I’m with you– “

“Yeah, well, she also knows I dragged you smack in the middle of Germany without her consent– “

“You saved my _life_!” Peter yelled, and this silenced Tony. “I think she wouldn’t hold it out on you if I stay with you for a while to make sure you don’t just drop dead.”

“What am I, seventy?” Tony asked incredulously after he took about three seconds to process, and suddenly James started laughing.

“Oh man.” He snickered, laughing the tears from his eyes and nearly doubling over again when he saw Tony and Peter looking at him with identically offended expressions. “Oh _man_ , I can’t believe this. Now I get why you’re so attached to this kid, Tones.”

“I am not _attached_ \- “

“I am not a _kid_ \- “

“My name’s James Rhodes, Peter.” He grinned, offering a hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD YOU GUYS. OH MY GOD. I AM LEGIT SPEECHLESS OMFG.
> 
> I did not expect this type of reaction?! What on earth did I do for you guys to like what I wrote? And in the first chapter, no less? This fandom is gonna make me cry guys you are the actual best I wanna give you hugs! And also, you people who liked this thing and commented are the reason why I updated after two days. Also, med school starts tomorrow, so yeah.
> 
> Anyway, since Peter's best friend was featured, I figured it was only fair that Tony's Rhodey gets to have a turn, too. I hope you like this! This thing is also un-beta'd, so constructive criticism will be well-received, because yikes I suck at action scenes I need more practice.


	3. Three: What Natasha Saw

**Three:**

**What Natasha saw.**

The others, especially Steve, had been out of their minds with worry when they watched what happened in Queens from one of the television in King T’challa’s palatial apartments. The hostage crisis had been televised live, and everyone that was sleeping had been wakened up by a harried-looking Sam.

Although the camera had been a few ways away so that the faces shown were too blurry to be distinguished, the presence of Tony and Rhodes in their respective armors had been undeniable. Seeing Tony shot without any of them there had been a rude wake up call, and ever since then Steve had been pestering Natasha to check up on the billionaire.

Not that she needed much persuading; despite how they separated ways, Natasha cared very much about Tony.

King T’challa, meanwhile, discouraged the excursion but did not forbid it.

“Tony Stark is well.” He told her when she was about to board the quinjet Steve had gotten in Siberia. “I talked to him just recently on the phone. He is stronger than he appears.”

“I know that.” Natasha said, “but you don’t how good he’s gotten in hiding things he doesn’t want you to know. It’ll be quick, your majesty. A clean job, in and out.”

T’challa raised an amused eyebrow. “You sound like you’ll be going on a mission, Miss Romanoff.”

“Isn’t it?” Natasha shrugged, and then started the sequence for lift-off. “I’ll see you shortly, King T’challa.”

-

It was pure coincidence when Natasha had stumbled upon Spider-Man wrapping up a street fight between a couple of gangs. The masked superhero had good reflexes, she’d noted, but looked like he relied more in instinct than an actual training.

It was an oversight, at least until Natasha remembered that Tony didn’t really have plans to include the kid in the Avengers roster. The kid had improved too, from the last time Natasha saw him fight back in Germany.

She had steadily followed Spider-Man around for two more blocks when the kid disappeared from her view.

“Aren’t you supposed to be like a fugitive now?” someone asked her from behind, sounding curious but not afraid. “I get that you dyed your hair blonde, but you’re still pretty recognizable, Ma’am. You really shouldn’t be here.”

Reluctantly impressed, Natasha turned around to see Spider-Man hanging upside down a few meters in front of her. His white lenses were narrowed, head cocked to the side. He looked very much like a snooping child playing dress-up, even with the mask covering his identity.

“Have you already called the authorities, then?” she questioned.

“Does Mr. Stark count as an authority?” Spider-Man threw back, “Because I already did. He told me to stay put though, he’ll call you in a second.”

As if on cue, and Natasha did not doubt that Tony was watching her through Spider-Man, the phone she’d been carrying on her pocket vibrated. Making sure that her movements were smooth, because she had no idea what else Tony told the kid to do and she _did_ betray Tony’s trust, Natasha answered her phone. “Romanoff.”

“What’s your business with the kid?” Tony didn’t dawdle. He also sounded dangerous, the way he never was around her, even after she’d hit him in the neck with a needle. “Nat if you hurt him I _swear to God_ \- “

“I’m not- “Natasha started, before swallowing her indignant tone. “Tony, I’m here for you.”

“What, so you can finish the job Rogers didn’t?”

This time, he sounded angry and hurt, and for a moment Natasha remembered the way Steve never really talked about Siberia; the way he’d change the subject or hide himself in the cryo-chamber Barnes was in whenever anyone broached the topic.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said, tone level. “I’m serious, Tony, I want to know how you’re doing. We saw what happened in Queens.”

“Yeah, well you and the rest of the world.” Tony huffed. “I highly doubt you left your comfy hidey-hole in El Dorado to make sure I’m alright, but I _am_ alright. Now leave before I’m duty bound to report you. Go. Shoo.”

“ _Tony_ \- “

“Leave, Nat. I mean it.”

“Steve was worried. He sent me here to make sure you’re alright, Tony, so can you just-” She dropped, hoping it would mean something. She had never been more wrong.

“I’m fine, Natasha!” Tony yelled, and she flinched. “I’m fucking _peachy_. Nobody from the team I thought was so devoted to protecting the rest of the world stayed behind because Tony Stark is always bad, always wrong, every decision he makes is going to destroy the goddamn world so let’s go with the embodiment of the American ideal who couldn’t even have the fucking _decency_ to apologize to my face – “

He cut himself off suddenly, and through the phone Natasha could hear him breathing heavily. Tony audibly gathered his composure before speaking again in carefully measured tones, “You know what, it’s not important. What’s important is that I don’t care, I don’t give a goddamn _shit_ if he’s going out of his mind with _worrying_ \- “he spat out the word, “-because he lost the right to care the moment he left. You tell that to him, and if I ever see you or your posse around my kid or my turf after this, and it won’t end well for you. I’m not joking around.”

Natasha clenched and relaxed her jaw multiple times, conscious of the fact that Spider-Man was looking warily at her. “I didn’t want it to end like this, Tony.”

“Neither did I.” He told her quietly. “Goodbye, Miss Romanoff.”

When Natasha pocketed her phone, she saw Spider-Man nodding to himself before doing a flip to stand on the ground. “Mr. Stark told me to escort you to your ride.” He informed her. “He also told me to tell you that he’ll be watching, so. Uh. After you, Ma’am.”

Knowing that she was treading on very thin ice, Natasha complied, walking slowly in front of the masked superhero and leading the way towards the abandoned warehouse she left the quinjet in while making sure she kept to the back-alleys.

After about three minutes of silence, she spoke up. “Tony cares a lot about you.”

She heard the kid stumble behind her. “Um – I mean, okay? Mr. Stark makes sure I don’t get into too much trouble.”

“You mean like with Adrian Toomes?”

When she looked back, Natasha saw the kid deflating. “Okay, that was a one-time thing. And totally my fault. I mean, I got a little cocky I guess and then the ferry incident happened and _boy_ was Mr. Stark really angry at me at that time and he took the suit from me for a while and it was the _worst_ feeling in the world, making him disappointed and – and why am I even telling you this?”

“You look up to him a lot.” It wasn’t that big a stretch; the kid practically had hearts for his eyes and he wasn’t making an effort to cover it all up.

“Well, _duh_.” Spider-Man made a grand movement with his hands that probably meant something. “He’s Tony Stark! Probably the smartest guy in the world, owner of a big company, and a superhero to boot. He’s so busy with all those things but he still found the time to make me a really great suit and he saved my life two times now –“

“Two?” Natasha cut in, intrigued.

“The second one was recent.” Spider-Man shrugged. “Also my fault. But the first time was when I was still a kid. I don’t think Mr. Stark even knows about it. Remember the Stark Expo?”

How could she not? Natasha nodded. “The place got ambushed by Hammer techs, yes.”

“Yeah well, I was there. I was wearing this Iron Man helmet and gauntlets, you see, and I got separated from my Aunt and Uncle. So there I was, all alone with people running everywhere and scared out of my mind when one of those robot thingies landed in front of me.”

Spider-Man raised his hand above him, indicating how tall the robot must have been to his point of view. “It was _huge_. And then it aimed these really scary guns at me, and I was alone and no one was around, and me being the stupid kid I was, I thought, _Iron Man wouldn’t run from danger. He’d fight and he’d win and he’d save the day_. So I raised my fake gauntlet at it and fired.”

“And then the next thing I know, the real Iron Man landed behind me and fired his repulsors at that robot. Those things were loud! So I jumped and turned around and there he was, looking so cool and heroic, and he saved my life! And then he told me, ‘Nice work, kid’ and then flew away and it was probably the coolest the day I had _ever_.”

Spider-Man paused, and then said, “Well, my Uncle yelled at me a lot when he finally found me, and I was probably grounded for like, forever, but it’s not something you forget anytime soon, you know?”

“So yeah, I look up a lot to him.” He shrugged. “He probably thinks I’m an annoying kid though. I mean, I tend to talk a lot when I’m around him and he’s _still_ monitoring me whenever I do my patrols, which, okay, makes me feel a little bit safer but- “

It was impossible not to be charmed by Spider-Man’s obvious and sincere admiration. Natasha didn’t bother hiding the indulgent smile on her face. “He called you his kid, you know?” She smirked when he froze at her words, “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t think you’re annoying.”

“Holy shi – seriously?”

Natasha was willing to bet that if she took off that spider mask, the kid would be blushing up to the roots of his hair.

“Well, I mean- “Spider-Man stuttered, “That’s, um, he probably didn’t mean it like - uh. Not in the biological sense, more like in this vague ‘make sure this guy doesn’t do anything really stupid’ kind of thing. He did take me under his wing and all, and and he- “

“Kid, you’re breaking.” Natasha dryly said.

“Um.”

Feeling magnanimous, Natasha threw him a bone. “Alright, kid, my ride’s here.”

Those white lenses blinked back at her, before staring at the seemingly innocuous warehouse behind Natasha. “Oh okay, cool! Woah – is that a _quinjet_?”

Following her with eyes only on the aircraft, Spider-Man stared with awe-struck amazement as the quinjet opened at her command. “Holy crap, I’ve never seen one of these up close! Does it really go up to Mach 6? Can it break the sound barrier? Does it- “

“You do know that asking Tony these questions is better than asking me?” Natasha said, raising an eyebrow.  “He did make this one, after all.”

“ _Awesome_.” He whispered reverentially.

She was half-way up the ramp when Natasha saw how the masked superhero was looking at the plane, and it was so obvious that it wasn’t the quinjet he was really seeing. It was so endearing and adorable, how Spider-Man idolized the older hero, that Natasha felt so much fondness for the kid on Tony’s behalf.

“Hey, kid.” She called out, and when he looked at her Natasha continued, “You stay on Tony’s side, alright? Make sure he’s okay since all of us are gone.”

That seemed to take Spider-Man aback. “Mr. Stark must know I’m always on his side.” He said, sounding bewildered and a little hurt.

The kid wanted so _badly_ not to disappoint. Natasha wondered how Tony could handle the weight of all that admiration and not balk, when it was only a matter of time when the kid would realize that his heroes weren’t so great after all.

“He does.” She said, and those white lenses zeroed in on her. “He knows. He’s just… he’s Tony. Sometimes you have to remind him, even when it should be obvious.”

He blinked. And then suddenly, the white lenses narrowed in determination, and for that one moment, Spider-Man looked so dependable that Natasha could see the kind of man he would grow up to be.

“Yeah.” He nodded vigorously. “Yeah, of course, Ma’am. You can leave Mr. Stark to me.”

“I’m counting on you, Spider-Man.” Natasha smiled, and then the quinjet’s ramp closed, separating her from him.

When she was a good few miles away from New York, with Spider-Man waving his arms wildly at her the whole time during take-off until he was just a speck of red in the distance, her phone rang shrilly.

“I can’t believe you told him that!” Tony whined when Natasha finally answered.

“Which part?” She asked, smiling a little when he let out an offended sound.

“Oh, I dunno, _everything_? Christ, Nat, how can I face the kid after all that mushy-gushy crap you dropped? You made me sound like a soccer dad!” He cried, affronted.

“That kid practically worships you.” Natasha informed him. “You need more people like him on your corner, Shellhead.”

After a few moments of silence, Tony spoke up. “Yeah well, he shouldn’t, Nat. He’s a great kid - he’s _so much better_ than me - but he’s gonna end up so disappointed when I inevitably end up fucking up his life. Should probably stay away from him, now that I think about it.”

“Well, tough luck, Tony.” Natasha snorted. He always saw the best in people and the worst in himself. “You saved his life, you helped him, you protect him, you look after him – and whether you like it or not he believes in you. You’re invested now, and you don’t get to take it back.”

And then, more softly, “He brings out the best in you. I’m glad.”

“I’m not worth all of that, Nat.” Tony admitted. “What do I – what on earth do I _do_?”

“If you do not have faith in yourself- “Natasha began after mulling about it, “-then perhaps you can trust the people you claim to be inferior to. And he _does_ trust you, Tony. If he thinks you are worth his admiration, then you’ll just have to believe in him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The responses are SO OVERWHELMING GUYS YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST <3 Anyways, here is chapter three featuring the mama spider! I don't know if I did her character any justice here - I hopefully did, you guys tell me okay? Aaaand yep, I had to include that one Iron Man 2 scene. You people had no idea how I freaked when Tom confirmed the theory: it's so adorable omfg no wonder he looks up to Tony so much, guy saved his life when he was still a toddler.
> 
> And I think you guys got a peek on how pissed I am - still - at Steve through Tony's dialogue. I was a Team Cap during the comics, and I was Team Cap when I entered the cinemas and I came out of that place a full-fledged Team Tony. I'm a low-key Stony fan though, so angst is glorious and I cannot WAIT to expound on Steve and Tony's interaction on future chapters. 
> 
> As much as I'd like to suddenly put some Marvel character in here to tell you how lovely Peter and Tony are, I have to make sure that the reason why they're here are, you know, plausible. Reasonable. Whatever. So Team Cap will just have to wait until they get to see our favorite father and son duo. Also the chapters are chronological, probably ending at Infinity War. Or somewhere around it. Or after? I dunno I haven't gotten to that part yet mwahaha.
> 
> Anyways. Hope you love this chapter!


	4. Four: What Stephen Saw

**Four:**

**What Stephen saw.**

Stephen had met Tony Stark in a charity ball the billionaire hosted years before. They ran in the same circles, with both of them being geniuses in their respective areas, members of Mensa as well as filthy rich, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

They had developed some kind of camaraderie, since they recognized each other as absolute assholes and had no compunction of making it known to the general populace. Stark was one of the people Stephen could tolerate for some amount of time, since he wasn’t much of an absolute moron.

Stephen had rarely seen the guy around once Stark started running around in a metal suit, and had only talked to him again when the superhero asked for his help in using some kind of experimental virus called Extremis on him to take out the arc reactor. After that, they both fell completely out of touch when what happened to Stephen happened.

It wasn’t until he was three months into being appointed the Master of the New York sanctum that he met Iron Man for the first time.

“Isn’t that-? It is!” A gleeful mechanical voice sounded, and when Stephen looked up from the ghastly monster he was restraining, he saw the red and gold suit hovering on the same rooftop he was in. “Look who we have here! Doctor Stephen Strange, as I live and breathe.”

“Stark.” Stephen grunted. “Make yourself useful and start shooting – this is supposed to be in your jurisdiction, as I recall.”

“What, creepy crawlies?” Stark asked, using his repulsor technology to blast the one Stephen had been trying to kill into pieces. Show off. “You’re a superhero now too, Beard Bro. Anything that’s out for blood falls under that category.”

“ _Don’t_ call me that.”

“Woah, let me down gently, Doc.” He teased, flying upwards to properly see the mirror-like quality of the portal that appeared suddenly on top of the New York sanctum, where monsters that looked like the unholy love child of a turtle and a three-legged horse promptly fell from and started attacking the general vicinity.

“So, is this some kind of mumbo-jumbo thing? Or is it just a coincidence that some portal appeared right on top of your doorstep?” He inquired.

“The word you’re looking for is magic, Stark.” Stephen snorted, knowing the guy’s aversion to said word from the many rants he’d been subjected to when they were still normal members of society.

“Woah!” A new voice appeared, and suddenly there was Spider-Man on the roof, flipping from what seemed like a web he’d stuck to one of the electric poles surrounding the area and landing nimbly on his feet. “Did you just say _magic_?”

“Hey kid.” Stark greeted the new arrival. “Doc, this is Spider-Man, you probably heard of him somewhere. Spidey, this is Doctor Strange. He’s a leading neurosurgeon in the country, at least until he started channeling his inner Albus Dumbledore and became a superhero.”

Apparently, Tony Stark brought his protégé with him.

“Hey Mr. Stark! Nice to meet’cha, Doc!” The masked superhero waved, and he sounded – and acted – a lot like he still didn’t get pass puberty. “Why can’t he be Harry, though?” Spider-Man then asked, webbing up a couple of monsters that got a little too close for comfort without missing a beat.

“Because have you seen his magnificent beard?” Stark asked, pointing, before turning around to blast two turtle-slash-horse hybrids into the adjacent roof. “He has one like me! It’s awesome. Isn’t that right, Beard Bro?”

Conjuring up one of his whips, Stephen used his magic to step through empty air and started using the ones neighing angrily at him for target practice. “For God’s sake, Stark, just help me clean this up. And hello to you as well, Spider-Man.”

“Ha!” Stark laughed. “So that portal _is_ your fault!”

“Wait, so they’re made of magic?” Spider-Man followed.

Huffing, Stephen explained. “They’re from another dimension, actually. I opened it – _accidentally_ – when I was going through one of the artifacts this sanctum has in abundance.”

“Another dimension?” Spider-Man repeated. “That is _so cool_.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow, and Spider-Man hastily said, “I mean, _not_ cool. Totally super not cool. Yikes.”

Even with the faceplate on, Stephen could practically hear Stark rolling his eyes. “So how do we close it?” he asked.

“If you two can keep their attention, I might be able to find something inside.” Stephen told them, gesturing at the sanctum.

“Then keep it snappy, Doc.” Stark said. “Spidey and I will hold the front.”

-

When Stephen finally found the spell to close the portal, he went outside to see that Stark and Spider-Man had everything well in hand.

“You know, for invaders, you’d think that they have thought this through.” Spider-Man mused, using his webbing to swing himself upwards and then dropping feet first at the head of one of the monsters.

“They’re no Chitauri, that’s for sure.” Stark snorted, who was guarding the masked hero’s back. “Oh, hey, Strange! Nice of you to join us.”

“Put a sock in it.” Stephen rolled his eyes, starting the incantation. “Alright you two, back away.”

They did as he said, falling back behind him as the aliens started to levitate due to the spell and going back towards the mirror-portal. Waving his hands specifically and muttering the words, Stephen eventually had the portal slowly closing.

“Hey, assholes!” Spider-Man yelled at the aliens before the portal closed, raising one hand with all five fingers spread, although he had a big gap between his ring and middle finger. “Live long and prosper - _not_!”

Behind him, Stark turned his faceplate up, cackling madly like a hyena. “That was _gold_ , Spidey. Or should it be Spock?”

“Right?” Spider-Man visibly beamed through the mask when Iron Man clapped him gently on one shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since I saw those things in TV!”

“You are such a _nerd_.” Stark grinned, looking absolutely fond.

Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Says who?”

He pointed a finger at Stephen. “My pop-culture references are second to none, you know that. Don’t hate because you are totally the same, Beard Bro.”

Stephen didn’t bother admonishing the guy with that infernal nickname, because he was too busy wrangling the spell he used into its dormant state.

Spider-Man stepped beside him to poke hesitantly at the magical circle still hovering at Stephen’s elbow. “Is this really magic?”

His mentor shuddered. “Ugh, don’t _say_ that word, it’s giving me hives.”

“But Mr. Stark! _Magic_!”

“There’s gotta be a scientific explanation in there somewhere- “

“’There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’” Spider-Man intoned sagely, then quickly back-tracked when he saw Stark stare disbelievingly back at him, “I mean, or something along those lines- “

“Did you just quote Shakespeare on me?” Stark asked, incredulous. “You quoted Shakespeare on me! What kind of- “

“We had it for English!” Spider-Man defended.

Stephen snickered, amused, as the spell and their surroundings finally fell quiet. “You two are very much like each other.”

Stark blinked back at him while Spider-Man continued to splutter, and then Iron Man clapped his hands. “Alright, kid, that’s a wrap. You head straight home, you hear me? It’s a school night. If you make any detours, I’ll sic your Aunt on you.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.” You could practically hear the masked superhero rolling his eyes. “Bye, Mr. Stark.”

“Be safe, kid.” Stark smiled a little.

“Always am, Mr. Stark. It was good to meet you, Doc!” He called out, before slinging himself away from the two older men.

Stark was the first to break the silence. “Okay! Let the Department of Damages clean this up. Let’s have a drink?”

Stephen raised an eyebrow, leading the way inside the sanctum. “I thought you stopped.”

The middle of his eyes furrowed as Stark made a face. “Not _that_ kind of drink. I did stop, as you can remember before I had you operate on my heart. Nah, water will do.”

Stephen had him shedding the Iron Man armor at the foyer, because he had no idea what the magic inside would do to Stark’s technology. Stark grudgingly agreed, and after assuring him that no one would touch the suit, he followed Stephen inside the sanctum’s kitchen.

“Pretty sweet place you got here.” Stark began, poking idly at some of the furniture. “You got rid of your apartment?”

“Yes.” Stephen said, putting a jug of water and two cups on a tray. He was debating on whether to use his magic to levitate the whole thing because the shaking of his hands would probably spill the water, when the billionaire unceremoniously gathered the tray and started marching towards the wrong room. “Stark- “

“Call me Tony.” He grinned back at him. “So where’s the living room in this big-ass place?”

Exasperated, Stephen pointed at the other side of the room. Tony sheepishly followed him, and when they were both finally settled on the couches and drinking from their respective cups, Stephen spoke up.

“I didn’t think you’d be the type to get a protégé.”

“Neither did I.” Tony said, elaborating when Stephen gave him an annoyed look. “Well, he needed someone to look after him. You will not _believe_ what he’d been using as a super suit before he met me.” After a second, Tony shrugged. “He’s a good kid. Genuinely wants to help the little guys – he’s a lot better than we were at that age.”

“Oh?”

“I try to keep him out of the more dangerous ones.” He admitted, sipping at his cup. “Kid deserves a normal life, or how much normal he can be since he has those powers. Sometimes I can, but more often than not trouble finds him, so I try to buffer it as much as I can.”

“Hmm.”

“What?” Tony asked defensively.

Unlike him, Tony had been born into the lifestyle. Stephen got his fame and fortune through his own genius on the medical field, but in a way, Tony had it more difficult than him.

It was easy to see that he didn’t have a real childhood. The world expected Howard Stark’s son to be born just like his father – with a superior intellect that trumped anyone’s, no ifs or buts about it – and Tony had risen to the occasion.

He grew to maturity in a place that did not tolerate childishness or frivolity, and Stephen wondered how much different Tony would have been, if he’d been raised in a loving environment that allowed him to be a child first before forcing him into adulthood by the time he could walk.

And then Stephen realized; Tony wanted that for Spider-Man.

“Alright, Sherlock Holmes, tell me what you see.” Tony demanded.

Deciding that Tony would probably not appreciate what Stephen discovered, he redirected the topic. “You know, someone paid me a visit a month ago.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “I know what you’re doing, but I’ll bite. Who was it?”

“One of your teammates, actually. Thor of Asgard. Something about finding Odin with Loki, as well as the Infinity Stones.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second week in med school and I am so stressed but your comments make my days so bright you guys omg I love youuuu~
> 
> Anyway. HA. I bet you people didn't see Stephen Strange coming. I admit that this chapter is more of a transition towards the Infinity War, considering Thor showed up on the after credits of the movie, and then suddenly Thor3 is on its Ragnarok phase. I guess I wanted Tony to somehow know that Thanos is coming, and I thought that it would be best to use Stephen, since I don't want to introduce Bruce or Thor this early in the game.
> 
> So this chapter is kinda mild, I suppose. Just a bunch of father-son banter and epic nerd quips and Stephen channeling his inner Sherlock (HA!) by deducing (HA!) his Beard Bro's fondness for Peter. I have no idea if I did Strange right, considering one single movie isn't enough for me to get a handle on him. He seems kinda witty and assholey - and I think he and Tony would get along pretty well. Also, I read somewhere that Strange was one of the doctors in IM3 that did the surgery to remove the arc reactor, so I'm just gonna go along with that.
> 
> So now that I've set the stage for Infinty War, expect probably about two more chapters of light-hearted father-son moments. But after that you gonna have to brace yourselves because shit is gonna hit the fan, yo.
> 
> Tell me what you think about this chapter! <3


	5. Five: What May Saw

**Five:**

**What May saw.**

Peter came into her life because of Ben.

He’d been five years old then - too young to lose a parent, much less both in a plane crash nobody could have predicted – and the little boy only had to take her index finger in one hand and call her ‘Aunt May’ for him to have her completely wrapped around his pinkie.

Before Peter, May and Ben never really thought about having kids. They loved each other in a way that didn’t need a kid to cement it; each other’s presence had been enough. Peter’s sudden appearance brought something into their lives they both thought they didn’t need, but did.

He’s  _such_  a good kid. May had been mildly terrified of Peter being one of those devil kids who messed things up and ran everywhere and basically being a small bundle of headache, but he wasn’t. Peter ate his vegetables, cleaned up his toys, followed the rules Ben imposed and was smart to boot.

He, like Ben, took a first bite of the new recipe she’d invented and had slaved over for, and decisively declared that it was ‘the Best avocado oatmeal I’ve ever had, Aunt May’. Ben followed it up, and the two dunderheads had wolfed everything down enthusiastically, never mind the fact that they were steadily going through two pitchers of orange juice all the while.

She would have loved them both, if only for that.

When Peter turned fourteen, he started being more reserved. May worried, but Ben brushed her concerns off.

“Puberty.” He nodded sagely. “Besides, Pete’s been so good to us that he’s allowed to be a rebel once in a while.”

“Is this a boy thing?” May raised an eyebrow. “Because I don’t care if he’s crushing on someone or sneaking off – but if I hear he’s doing drugs or drinking beer he will be grounded for the rest of his  _life_.”

It started with sneaking off during the night, and then they learned from Ned that Peter had been leaving school as soon as it ended and only coming back home once it was time for dinner. Sometimes he was late, even for that.

The night it happened, Peter was an hour late for dinner.

“I’ll look for him.” Ben decided, after calling Peter’s phone for the umpteenth time. “You stay here, just in case Peter comes home.”

May had stayed, idly arranging and rearranging their dinner, already thinking about the lecture she’d give for her teenaged menace when there was a knock on her door and it had been the police when she opened it.

Everything was dark, for a while. There were times when she’d wake up from bed, a hand automatically groping for Ben’s side, and when May would meet empty air it suddenly comes back to her that her husband is going to be out of reach for the rest of her life now, and the only thing May can do is breathe through the pain.

But grief is not put aside, not when there is a funeral to plan, a child to look after, bills to pay and a life to go back to. May shoved it to the back of her mind and it echoed there. There were corners of her skull she never even knew were there, but the sound nestled in them and showed her shadows and hollows she didn’t know she had.

Peter blamed Ben’s death on himself. Two nights after the funeral, May sees Peter sobbing quietly on the couch of the living room, on the same spot Ben had wordlessly claimed for his own and clutching his uncle’s leather jacket like a lifeline.

“Oh, Peter.”

He collapsed immediately against her side, and May gathered him in her arms and wished that the world would be kinder to him.

“It’s all my fault.” He repeated, over and over again. “It’s all my – I  _killed_  Uncle Ben, Aunt May! I’m a bad person- “

“No, baby, no.” May shushed, feeling herself tearing up as well. “You are perfect, Peter. There is not a single thing wrong with you – there isn’t even a bad hair on your head. You are  _good_ , okay? Don’t you forget it.”

Slowly, month by excruciating month, Peter and May lived. He is the one good thing in life May has, and even though looking at him reminds her too much of Ben, Peter becomes the brightest part of her.

And then Tony Stark came into her house, chattering all the while about the scholarship grant and the foundation, and May felt overwhelmed. When Peter came back from that internship trip, he couldn't stop talking about how awesome Mr. Stark was, how generous, how he would work hard to make sure that he wouldn't disappoint the billionaire.

 _Ben would be so proud_ , is the first thing that came to mind.  _Why didn’t he tell me_ , is what she thought next.

The answer came when May went to their apartment early from work and saw her nephew wearing red spandex. She shouted out an expletive, and there was the feeling of a rug being pulled under her feet when Peter turned around and May saw the spider emblem on his chest.

“What were you  _thinking_?!” she screamed at Tony Stark through the phone, livid and terrified for her little boy.

Peter was the only piece of home she had left, and no one was going to take away what May had spent years protecting. Not even Iron Man.

So she yelled at the billionaire. When Tony arrived on their doorstep thirty minutes later, May dragged him inside only to yell again. To his credit, Tony wordlessly accepted the abuse, even calmly holding Peter off when the teenager tried to speak on his behalf.

“But Aunt May- “

“You  _stay out of this_ , Peter!”

“It’s not Mr. Stark’s fault!” Peter cried, standing in front of Tony. The billionaire sighed, placed a hand on her nephew’s shoulder and nudged him to the side.

“It’s okay, kiddo.” Tony said.

Peter was grounded indefinitely, because Queens has lived without a masked vigilante swinging around for years and it would continue to live even without her underage protector. When she had sent her nephew to his room so that she can talk to the billionaire without Peter interrupting every minute, May rounded up on Tony, ready to verbally abuse him to next Sunday, only to start sobbing.

“He’s just a kid.” She whispers, as Tony made her sit on the couch and offered her tissues awkwardly. “Tony, he’s  _fifteen_.”

“He’d continue to be Spider-Man, I think.” Tony spoke as May continued to cry. “Even if we’d ground him for the rest of his life. Even if we’d take the suit away – as I had unfortunately learned the hard way - or ship him off to the Bahamas. So I thought it was better that he’d have my protection, someone to look after him and make sure he doesn’t make too much bad decisions, than swing around alone in that godawful onesie.”

It made perfect sense, now that May was calm enough. Peter had always been taken by Ben’s responsibility talks; the two of them had souls of remarkable goodness that May never really shared. Unfailingly kind and dependable; if stripped down to his core, Peter’s would always help someone in need. May did not need her nephew to wear a suit for her to know that Peter was a hero.

For a while, Tony made himself scarce. May was still mad at him, even though he was right. Peter treaded lightly around her, and the world must have listened to her for once because nothing bad happened to Queens for those two weeks he’d been grounded.

May realized that she had a lot to be thankful to Tony for, when one day she answered the door the third week of Peter being grounded and saw the billionaire practically carrying her quiet nephew. Panic attack, Tony had told her. Peter was at school and FRIDAY had alerted Tony when his blood pressure and heart rate increased from what was normal for enhanced people, and even when he was halfway towards an important business meeting, Tony raced through Queens and calmed her kid down.

When Tony saved her nephew’s life during that hostage crisis, May had decided that she’d rather have the billionaire’s presence in Peter’s life than not at all.

She nearly regrets that decision when Tony comes to the apartment without warning, looking like he’d been through a lot, only to tell her point-blank that the world was in danger.

“You’re joking.” She weakly says, but Tony shakes his head.

“There’s something coming, May. Something worse than the Chitauri or Ultron or anything we’ve ever faced.” It was disconcerting, to see the normally exuberant man be this serious. He talked about Thanos, the Infinity Gems, of the incoming war, a story so inconceivable but was true, and May was truly frightened for her nephew.

“Does he know?” She demanded.

“Not yet, but we’ll need all hands on deck for this.” Tony swallowed. “We’ll need Peter.”

“No.”

“May- “

“ _No_!” May shouted, clenching her fist. “He’s a  _kid_ , Tony! He’s turning sixteen in a few months! You can’t just ask my permission to let Peter gallivant around the goddamn galaxy where he can die any minute!”

“I know that! But May, if he’s out there or in here, if we fail he’ll die as well. And even if I do keep this whole thing a secret from the kid, Peter would see something on TV once the shit-show starts and then he’ll go looking for trouble on his own with no backup.” Tony bluntly told her. “If it was up to me, I’d tell you and Peter to pack up and go somewhere safe, but there  _is_  no safe place, May. Nowhere is safe, not from Thanos.”

“Why are you telling me this?” May hoarsely asked.

“Because I want you to know what’s going to happen. I don’t want a repeat of Germany, because you deserve the truth, but Peter – Peter  _can_  help. And if you agree, I will do everything in my power to keep him safe.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No.” Tony admitted. “I can’t promise you his safety, no matter how much I want to. But I  _will_  protect him. If it is a question of giving Peter the chance to live one heartbeat longer, I would throw myself in front of Thanos without a moment’s hesitation.

“I would die for him.” He tells her, honestly and without artifice. “Without a second thought, without any regrets. I swear to you: I will look after him, because Peter is good, and God help me he’s going to be great one day. I will lay down my life for that.”

For a while, May is struck speechless. Tony cared so genuinely about Peter, and for a while she remembers Ben, who loved their nephew like he was their own kid, and May misses him with a fierce longing.

“Peter doesn’t ask for anything.” She says after a few seconds, and the sudden change in topic makes Tony blink. “So you have to be earnest and proactive about offering. He doesn’t even ask for something he needs, he just endures.”

“I’ll take care of him.”

“And he’s gotten alarmingly good at hiding when he’s hurt, or when he’s sad. When he’s terrified. You practically have to read his mind to look out for him.”

“I’ll take care of him.” Tony repeated.

May made sure to look straight at him. “He is a gift,” she said. “Many people don’t realize that. They think he’s a problem, because he’s always so unexpected.”

For a while, Tony was silent, staring back at May with a quiet resolve slowly building in his eyes, in his soul.

"You take care of my boy."

"Above myself." Tony promised, and May believed him.

Tony would take care of him. There was strength in the man, more than he admitted. More than Tony himself knew. He would hold steady through the storm, and bring his people safe to harbor.

That would have to be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Med school is hell. What have I gotten myself into? Lol this is what I get for having too high dreams. #fighting
> 
> Anyway. Aunt May is here for chapter five! I thought that it would make sense that Tony would ask for her permission to bring Peter out to space, because we saw that May found out about Spider-Man in the end-credits and Peter's with Tony meeting the guardians in the leaked trailer. I get that some people are giving Tony flak about the whole bringing a minor to die in space thing, but I figured (and Tony as well) that it was better to have Peter by his side so he could at least look out for him. Because, seriously, I think Peter would totally hijack a fucking spaceship if Tony leaves without him and our smol bean sees his dad fighting a genocidal alien on TV or something.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter! Personally, my favorite is the next one, although don't know when I'll be able to upload said chapter because shit is currently getting real in my life lol. Thank you, as always, for liking my work. It's always so uplifting to see your kudos and comments, and I hope this chapter will be loved by you guys as well.


	6. Six: What Bruce Saw

**Six:**

**What Bruce saw.**

Bruce chalked it up to Tony being his normal eccentric-self when the billionaire started pestering him to accompany Tony somewhere. He thought it was a spur of the moment thing, like that time when he blurted out that the whole team should eat shawarma after saving the world from the Chitauri invasion, but Bruce realized it wasn’t really a spontaneous decision when Tony presented him with a bespoke three-piece suit that was more expensive than his entire wardrobe.

“Tony.” Bruce haltingly asked, tentatively poking the suit his friend was holding out to him by a hanger. “I’m supposed to be laying low, remember?”

At the reminder that Bruce wanted to be out of Ross’ radar even if the others had managed to change some part of the Accords - which meant that the Secretary of Defense wouldn’t be able to arrest Bruce unless he went green without a proper reason - Tony quite visibly deflated. Bruce immediately backpedaled, because Tony genuinely looked disappointed. “But I can probably go with you if you let me dress inconspicuously.”

“That’s great!” Tony was suddenly grinning, patting Bruce at the shoulder. “That’s awesome, Brucey, you’re such a sweetheart, I knew you were my favorite for a reason.”

After the whole Ragnarok thing, Thor had Heimdall send Bruce to Earth – without his permission, mind you - so that he could bring the news of Thanos’ looming threat. Tony had been right, all along. But it had been an unwelcome surprise for Bruce when he arrived only to know that the Avengers had been split into uneven pieces.

Tony, Vision and Rhodey – the smaller piece that weren’t fugitives of the law – had explained everything that transpired in his absence. Bruce almost turned green he had been so angry, but when he remembered that he left the team to deal with everything that happened with Ultron on their own he lost the urge.

Now, Bruce was helping Tony, Vision and Rhodey prepare for what was about to come. Because no one wanted Ross to bother Bruce -  who was currently living in the compound - he was tasked on supervising the creation of the ship that would hopefully bring the war outside their side of the galaxy.

It was the other three who were often answering the world’s call for help, and they were so obviously stretched thin that it sometimes hurt when Bruce inevitably had to patch them up. King T’challa helped sometimes when he was State side, but the one who so often helped Tony and the others was someone named Spider-Man.

“I’ll introduce you to the kid soon.” Tony told him when Bruce asked about the masked superhero. “You’ll like him; I just know it.”

Apparently, Bruce was going to meet Spider-Man today, because the moment he saw the approaching gates of Midtown School of Science and Technology from the sports car they were both in, Bruce remembered that Tony let it slip that the young hero was still in high-school and he put two and two together. Tony Stark didn’t just _go_ to some random high school for nothing.

“Tony.” Bruce just sighed, looking at his friend who was dressed like he was going to some important business meeting. “You could have just told me I was going to meet Spider-Man. What’s with the whole get-up, anyway?”

“Well, it’s actually the school’s science fair, and the kid’s one of the participants.” Tony sheepishly replied. “You know that I have the kid on the Stark Internship, right? As a cover story for his spider-manning activities. But apparently no one in the school believes that he knows the great Tony Stark, so I’m gonna go help the kid’s reputation for a bit. And hey, you get to go out of the compound and meet him as well! That’s like, hitting three birds with one stone.”

Bruce blinked. “You’re going to some school’s science fair, dressed to the nines, despite your busy schedule and the impending doom of our planet just so you can help a teenager’s reputation?”

“Well, if you put it like that, it sounds stupid but- “

“No, it’s not stupid.” Bruce smiled, feeling a fond-like appreciation towards Tony’s interpretation on how to look out for someone. “It’s not stupid at all.”

“Well.” Tony said, looking for a moment at a loss for words, before seeing something over Bruce’s shoulder and grinning. “Good, because we have just arrived, Brucey-bear.”

While Bruce observed the school, Tony parked his Maserati in an empty spot near the entrance of the school gym where some students were gathered to greet the guest. The ridiculously expensive sports car got surprised looks, but the stares morphed into looks of incredulous awe when both Tony and Bruce got out of the car. One kid even rubbed his eye, as if clearing it would make them both magically disappear.

Tony led Bruce towards the suddenly silent students, and the billionaire seemed to single out one in particular, because when they were closer Tony snapped his finger and pointed at someone. “Oh hey, you’re Ned right?”

The pointed student blinked, looked around him to see if Tony was really pointing his way, and then raised his own pointer finger to indicate himself, all the while with his mouth wide open.

Bruce couldn’t help the small smile that came out when Tony huffed exasperatingly. “Yes, kid, I’m talking to you. Or is anyone of you named Ned too?”

The students turned to stare with wide eyes at Ned as he stuttered. “Um – yes. Yes, my name’s Ned. I’m a – I mean – welcome to Midtown High, Mr. Stark, Mr. Banner.”

While Bruce smiled kindly at the stuttering teenager, Tony took an invitation from the pocket of his coat and presented it with a flourish to Ned. “Right. We’re here for Peter, is he here yet?”

One male student made a choked sound as Ned started to get over the shock of seeing them both. With a smile slowly crawling on his face, Ned nodded. “Yeah, Mr. Stark, he’s stationed on the eleventh booth. We’re gonna start in ten minutes though, so you’ll have to find a seat afterwards.”

“Okay.” Tony pocketed the guest pass Ned gave to him while he handed the other one to Bruce. “See you around, guy in the chair.” He patted Ned carelessly on the shoulder as he passed, and Bruce saw the kid practically hyperventilate at the touch with his companions staring enviously before the doors of the gym closed.

“Was that-?”

“Nope. You’ll see him soon, though.”

The gymnasium was packed with students and families as well as teachers, so they weren’t immediately noticed. Unfortunately, booth eleven was a little far from the entrance, and soon enough people started to notice. It came to the point that the crowd actually went silent as they passed.

Bruce would have hunched in on himself because of the stares if not for the fact that a lot of those were stares of awe. He knew that he was quite a name on the science community, such that he was included in the school curriculum, but it was another thing entirely to actually see impressionable young kids looking up at him as if he didn’t break Harlem.

“Feeling like Cinderella at the ball yet?” Tony asked him, nudging him companionably at the side, and he was about to give a reply when Tony caught sight of someone behind Bruce’s back, and suddenly the billionaire was grinning. “Oh, hey, that’s him!”

Tony started forward, and Bruce turned around just in time to see his friend sling his arm around the shoulders of an unsuspecting brown-haired teenager. “Hey, kid.”

The teenager let out a startled squeak at the contact, and when he whirled around, bleated out a, “Mr. Stark?!”

Tony huffed out a laugh. “Jeez, kid, jumpy much?”

“You startled me!” the teen pouted, and then beamed brightly. “And hey, I didn’t actually think you remembered!”

“Kid, you’ve been harping about your science project for months, of course I remembered.” Tony deadpanned, but it did nothing to dim the teenager’s smile. “I sent Happy to get your Aunt, by the way. And oh, I brought someone with me that I’d like you to meet.”

Tony steered the teen around using the hand on his shoulder, and when he finally saw Bruce, let out a strangled sound, brown eyes wide. “ _Ohmigod_.”

“Kid, meet Dr. Bruce Banner aka the giant green rage monster with a soft heart. Bruce, this kid here is Peter Parker.” Tony introduced, with Peter gaping all the while.

“Hello, Peter.” Bruce greeted, holding out a hand, because the teenager looked like he wasn’t doing anything unless Bruce made the first move. “Tony speaks highly of you.”

Mouth still open, Peter wordlessly accepted the handshake. Behind him, Tony shot Bruce a look, and he resisted the urge to laugh.

“I’m – oh my god – Dr. Banner, I am _such_ a fan.” Peter gushed. “I read all your papers – Mr. Stark told me about your paper in anti-electron collision and it’s actually what my project is based on!”

Getting more intrigued about the kid, Bruce asked, “How so?”

For the next five minutes, the three of them discussed Peter’s project, oblivious to other people’s stares. Bruce was highly impressed with Peter’s grasp on a subject that was still a few ways away from his current education, and when he told the teenager so, Peter became a stuttering mess.

“Mr. Stark actually explained some of the more difficult parts for me.” Peter explained, still blushing.

Bruce was surprised, raising an eyebrow at Tony who was suddenly not looking at him. “I’m glad he did, Peter. Your project looks amazing.”

His earnest tone sent Peter into another bout of stuttering mess, something that only increased when there was an announcement that the presentation was about to start. “Oh god oh god oh god –“

“You got this, kid.” Tony patted the teen softly on the back. “Just imagine all of the people staring at you stripped down to their underwear; that trick never fails me.”

“Mr. Stark, no!” Peter laughed, making a face.

“You’ll do great.” Bruce seconded, smiling when Peter stuttered out a thank you.

“May’ll be here before you do your presentation, so don’t worry.” Tony assured, and then he was pushing Peter gently towards the stage. “C’mon, up you get, kiddo.”

Peter walked awkwardly towards the stage as Tony ushered Bruce on their respective seats. Parents that were seated around both of them were giving them startled looks, but once the presentations started, no one gave them any attention.

“You really like this kid.” Bruce mused lowly, and Tony huffed.

“He’s a smart one, for a kid his age.” Tony said, and Bruce noticed that it wasn’t a denial.

When it was only two more students before Peter’s presentation, May Parker arrived behind Tony, looking windswept. “Did I miss Peter?” she asked worriedly.

“Nah, you came just in time.” Tony assured, patting the seat beside him. “May, I want you to meet Bruce Banner, a good friend of mine. Bruce, this here is Peter’s absolutely gorgeous Aunt May.”

“Inappropriate, Tony.” Bruce said, before offering a smirking May his hand as Tony protested between them. “Hello, Mrs. Parker. Peter’s a great kid.”

“I’m glad you think so, Dr. Banner. And please, call me May.”

The three of them spent the rest of the time in hushed chatter when Peter was finally called to the stage. They immediately snapped to attention, and when Peter walked slowly towards the center, Bruce noted that Tony and May were the ones who clapped the loudest.

“Uh – hello, everyone.” Peter started, and the audience smiled good-naturedly at the awkward teen. He was staring at them though, and May was holding up two thumbs-up and Tony was miming how to breathe, while Bruce settled with his most encouraging smile.

Peter breathed in once, letting it out after two seconds and then smiled at the crowd. “I’m Peter Parker, and I’m here to show you my project.”

-

“-and you will not believe how Flash looked when Mr. Stark went to my booth!” Peter laughed, regaling his Aunt May with the things she’d missed as Happy drove the three of them towards the Parker residence.

Peter had won second place, and Bruce was amused to see Tony look so affronted when it was announced. “The kid deserves first place, what the hell?” he demanded. “This is bulls-“

“Tony!” May reprimanded, and Bruce thought that, if May and Pepper were ever to meet - and they definitely would, Bruce was sure of that - the two of them would get along like a house on fire.

“-but it’s true! The kid’s project is the best –“

“Let it go, Tony.” Bruce chuckled.

After the awards ceremony, Tony practically dragged the Parkers to a nearby expensive restaurant to celebrate, brushing off their protest. After dinner found all of them stuffed inside the limo Happy was driving, since Tony had FRIDAY remotely drive the Maserati towards the compound so he could accompany them.

Peter was currently laughing along with his Aunt, demonstrating how the face of someone called Flash looked when the teen abruptly let out a yawn.

Tony was suddenly looking at Peter with furrowed eyebrows. “You haven’t been sleeping, have you?

Peter flushed. “Well – I had last minute preparations for my project and – uh –“

“You’re sleeping for more than eight hours tonight.” Tony decidedly said, and Bruce looked up in surprise because Tony sounded like he really was worried about the kid. He normally preferred to cover heart-felt emotion with jokes and flippant remarks, and the blatant show of concern was a side of Tony Bruce never really saw, even when he was with Pepper.

“No other shenanigans, you hear me?” Tony continued vaguely when Peter glanced worriedly at Bruce. “You’re starting to look like a human panda, kid.”

“Jeez, Mr. Stark.” Peter pouted. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know kid, but you don’t have to. That’s why you have adults around for.” Tony said, ruffling Peter’s hair fondly. “Take a night off, okay?”

Smiling bashfully, Peter nodded. “Okay.”

As Bruce silently watched the two of them interact, he privately thought that it was a relief, for his friend to find someone like Peter especially with the others gone. Because if anybody deserved someone to have their back, it was Tony Stark. If anybody deserved somebody they could rely on, it was him.

His only wish is that, whatever happens in the upcoming days, no harm would touch them both. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to inform everyone that this chapter right here is currently my favorite! I have such a soft spot on Bruce, since he's so damn awkward around people but he tries his best and - most of all - he genuinely seems fond of Tony (let's disregard that stupid after-credit scene - you know what I mean.) And I was so happy for him when I saw his picture alongside the greatest scientists in Peter's class in Homecoming! He deserves recognition, oh my god, I can compose a soliloquy on Bruce Banner but I have no time so let's just settle on the fact that I love this guy so much. After Tony and Peter, lol. (Also, Tony is so goddamn adorable in this chapter I actually squealed a little while I was writing the whole thing. You are such a dad omfg.)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you love this chapter! This is part one of 'fluffy father-son chapters before shit hits the fan'. I have to say though, the next chapter won't be updated for a while. Like, I put up chapters after a week at the most, but this one is going to be a liiiitle longer. I'm a bit busy and I haven't finalized the next chapter yet, although I already have the foundations for it. So you're just gonna have to wait for it. I hope this one tides you over for now! If you see some grammatical errors, give me a heads up! I don't have the time to actually check the whole thing because I have so much lessons to read on.
> 
> (I think the only project that can actually usurp Peter's is Baymax lol. Big Hero 6 is Marvel too, right? It wouldn't be that much of a stretch if Tadashi Hamada actually lives in the MCU, but meh, too many side stories. I'll leave it up to you.)


	7. Seven: What Happy Saw

**Seven:**

**What Happy saw.**

Happy waited impatiently, ignoring the stares he was getting either from the expensive car he was leaning on or the fact that for some reason, Tony Stark’s head of security was just idly chilling in front of a high school looking like he was waiting for someone. As if he didn’t have better things to do like, I don’t know, actually guarding his stupid boss’s ass?

“God _dammit_ , Tony.” Happy muttered, checking his watch for the umpteenth time and wondering when did becoming a chauffeur for a super powered teenager became one of his job description.

For some reason, Tony had gotten it into his head to bring a fifteen-year-old kid – “Going on sixteen.” Tony absently muttered, as if that made everything _so much better_ – into space with him.

Space. Like the final frontier, eight planets, stars and comets, not-even-in-the-Milky-Way-galaxy _space_. Happy swore his boss was actually losing his mind. When he announced it to them, Pepper had thrown a gasket, Rhodes was practically foaming at the mouth and Happy had the nasty urge to break Dummy in half and bash his boss in the head with the said mechanical arm.

He understood it: Tony was a good guy. He was a hero. He’d bend his back trying to protect a planet that never did anything good to him, but Happy could not fathom why he had to bring a fucking teenager into the mix.

Because for the life of him, Happy actually _liked_ the kid. He was like some walking, talking, word-vomiting fungus that slowly grew on him, and he didn’t want Peter to die on some suicide mission outside Earth.

And now, despite every single protest of all of Tony’s friends, Happy was waiting in front of Peter’s high school to pick the kid up and bring him to the compound where Tony would break the news to him.

Happy was half-wondering how Tony would react if he’d whisk the kid far, far away from the billionaire when the school bell rang. Tapping his feet impatiently on the ground, it took about fifteen minutes of waiting before he saw Peter walking out of the school gate, his best friend beside him.

Peter was giving the ground the attention Happy doubted it deserved, so it was the best friend who saw him first. He nudged Peter on the side with his elbow to make him look up, and Happy saw the kid try and fail to give a smile.

“Hey, Happy.” Peter started once he and Ned got close enough. “What are you doing here? Oh, this is Ned. My bestfriend.”

Happy raised an eyebrow. He expected the kid to start jabbering away the minute he saw him, not get this kind of stilted response. He even observed the best friend glance worriedly at the kid.

“Yeah, the boss wants to see you.” Happy said after giving the best friend a nod. His eyebrow rose even higher when Peter only nodded at the news. “Something wrong, kid?”

Peter shrugged. “Just school. Can we go?”

“Of course.” Happy frowned, starting to worry. “Get inside, kiddo.”

When Peter slammed the door shut after saying goodbye to his best friend, Happy immediately rounded up on Ned. “Okay, spill it. What happened?”

“I don’t know!” The best friend immediately whined. “He’s been like that ever since we finished Decathlon practice.”

“How can you not know? You’re with him every single day!” Happy said.

“I got holed up in Science class for some after school project.” Ned mumbled. “When I finally got to practice, Peter was like that and everyone was giving him looks and nobody would tell me anything!”

Happy opened up his mouth to grill the kid more when the car window opened up and Peter poked his head out looking annoyed. “Can we _please_ just go? It’s nothing, okay, stop asking Ned.”

The kid was using a familiar tone on him, and Happy had been with Tony for years and knew that it was the same tone the billionaire often used whenever he wanted to drive the car instead of letting Happy do it.

Kid must be pretty conflicted about something, and Happy knew that the subject was better left alone. Or at least sic another person on the kid so that he would crack, and Happy knew just who to make him talk.

“Alright, alright.” Happy sighed, and then turned to face the best friend. “Need a ride?”

“I would, but…” Ned said, pointing at the already closed car window. “He probably just need a pick me up. Please don’t get mad at him.”

“It’s fine.” Happy shrugged. “The boss can probably cheer him up or something. They always cheer each other up.”

-

After a very uncomfortable ride where Peter had his headphones on the whole time, Happy was only too pleased to bring the kid to the compound’s laboratory where Tony was currently in. The kid - despite not being on the corridor they were walking in the last time he was here - remained taciturn, only brightening up a bit when the lab doors opened and the first person he saw was his mentor fiddling with the Iron Man armor.

“About time!” Tony immediately shouted when the doors opened, and Happy was surprised to note that the boss didn’t have AC/DC blaring loudly through the speakers.

Probably being considerate over the kid’s enhanced senses. Happy wondered what exactly was it about Peter that had Tony being all parental over him, a point that was further proven when Peter barely let out a greeting and the billionaire furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “You look like your puppy got killed, kid, what happened?”

Peter blinked and said, “What, no, I’m fine –“

“Yeah, and I’m not Tony Stark.” He beckoned the kid closer after putting the wrench he was holding on the table. “Come over here so I can talk to you better.”

Peter silently took the offered stool, staring cautiously at Tony despite the geek-worthy armor lying on the work table mere inches to his left.

Happy knew he should probably be leaving right about now, but he was curious on how his boss would handle the teenaged superhero. Instead, he made himself fade in the background, leaning against the wall and making no noise.

“So?” Tony asked after a few seconds. “Anything I can help you with?”

Peter shook his head. “It’s not Spider-Man related –“

“I know kid. The suit, remember?” Tony rhetorically asked. “But it’s bugging you, and a distracted Peter is a distracted Spider-Man and, trust me, that’s not gonna go well once you swing around Queens.”

Peter fiddled around with his sleeves. Tony crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “I’m not gonna stop until you say what’s wrong, kid –“

“Liz Allen asked me out on a date.” Peter finally blurted out. Happy honestly expected another fifteen minutes for him to crack, but he guessed the kid was actually starting to trust Tony so much that he was willing to share some tidbits that he wouldn’t with other people.

Tony stared. “You mean the senior girl you’ve been crushing on?”

Peter nodded glumly. “Yeah. She called during Decathlon practice this afternoon and since we’re having a competition near her new place she asked if we were free after and Liz told me specifically that she was looking forward for me to make it up to her and oh my god Mr. Stark I don’t know what to do –“

Tony held up a hand, and Happy was amused to see Peter physically bite his lower lip to stop his yammering.

“What are you so worried about?” Tony said, looking bewildered. “This girl obviously likes you. I mean, she agreed when you asked her out for your Homecoming, and even when you left her to go after her dad, she still asked you out. I mean, seriously Peter –“

“I’m not like you!” Peter squeaked, cutting Tony off. “I’m not some cool guy who can sweep any girl of her feet! I’m just clumsy, nerdy Peter Parker.”

Tony stared, looking like he was honestly at a loss for words.

“I like her.” Peter admits, looking like he’d want to be anywhere but here, and at the same time wanting Tony’s help. “But she’s smart, she’s pretty, she’s _perfect_! And she never brags and she works hard on everything, and she has all these friends who love her.”

“Not to mention you got her dad in prison.” Happy muttered under his breath, and he got a glare from Tony for that.

“Yeah, that too.” Peter meekly said. “And well, just look at me! I’m practically a walking camouflage. I’m so ordinary, and definitely not good enough for her. I mean, there’s Spider-Man, but Peter Parker’s different, you know?”

“So who do you think is good enough for her?” Tony probingly asked.

Peter sighed. “I don’t know. Someone like you, I guess. I’ve been asking myself if it had been the right thing to agree with Liz in going. I wanna make it up to her, you know, for what I did last homecoming. But I figured: why bother? She’s too perfect.”

"Wait a minute." Tony held up a hand. "Wait."

Tony stared straight at Peter. “So you’re saying that you think this Liz is perfect, villainous dad notwithstanding, right?”

“Y-yeah?” Peter said, nodding, probably wondering what the billionaire was gonna say.

“And you’re telling me that she’s pretty and nice and kind? Basically your dream girl?”

"Um. Yes."

"So because she's all that, you're giving up because Peter Parker has got nothing to be proud of."

"Yeah, that's kind of the whole point-"

"No offense, but that's bullshit." Tony grumbled, looking up at the ceiling.

Peter looked offended. Happy would have intervened, but he knew the older man had more to say on the subject.

“Isn’t that the main point? She’s all of that, so you got all the more reason to fight for her.”

Peter stared, uncomprehending. “What?”

Tony made a grand gesture. “You’re saying she’s perfect, so isn’t that enough reason to grow a pair and tell her you like her? Make it up to her? Cause I don’t know about you kid, but actually showing up to that date and letting her see you make an effort would show her that you’re not ‘just Peter’. Like, you can be ‘more’ for her. Or something.”

“And for the record, you’re not ‘just Peter’, alright? I know you’ve got some different identity going on in your head, but kid, you _are_ Spider-Man. You don’t have to be me – God forbid – to actually make this girl like you. Being Peter is enough. And hey, she asked _you_ out, didn’t she?”

Happy and Peter both stared.

Tony huffed. “Look, the point is: stop trying so hard to be someone you're not.”

“But nobody would like me!” Peter protested.

Tony stared at him for a long moment, making the kid fidget, and then the billionaire stooped down a bit so that he was looking straight at Peter’s eyes, and placed both of his hands on Peter’s shoulders to anchor himself and really drive the point home.

“Kid.” Tony started. “Peter. If someone can’t like you for who you are, then they don’t deserve you.”

-

“I thought you were gonna tell him.” Happy silently asked, as he and Tony watched Peter play with the bots after Tony had them take a break from doing science work on both the Spider-Man suit and the Iron Man armor.

Tony shook his head, smile wry as Peter let out a whoop when Dummy finally managed to shake his hand. “Nah. Let him have that date first, and then I’ll tell him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am alive. Dying from all the shit I still have to do and all the sleepless nights and the coffee I keep guzzling down by the bucket-full... but alive. And here to post another chapter! Yay!
> 
> I have no idea if I did justice on the giving dating advice kinda thing? I thought Tony giving Peter ideas on how to date was kinda, you know, an overused plot, so I figured that it would be better if Tony would just give Peter the confidence boost he really needs. And I honestly like Liz! I wanted to mention her for this chapter, because we all know who Peter really ends up in the end lol. 
> 
> Tony is such a beautiful, attentive dad, omfg. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! I'm sorry for the grammatical errors, I honestly don't have the time to go back and read through the chapter and correct shit because, ugh med is life. If you see some, gimme a heads up! I'll correct it once my acads decide to give me a breather.
> 
> Next chapter is also gonna be a long wait. Sorry in advance. Hope you like Happy's point of view!


	8. Eight: What Ross Saw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Trigger alert: mentions of torture.)

**Eight:**

**What Ross saw**

It was laughably easy, taking Tony Stark.

Granted, it took a lot of his men, some black market tech and a shit-ton of planning, but it had all payed off. The billionaire himself was now glaring darkly up at him from his place on Ross’ feet, on his knees and sporting a brilliant black eye.

“Ross.” Stark spat, struggling against two of Ross’ men that was holding him on either side. “You _son of a bitch_.”

He smirked in reply. “Heroes are the easiest people to trick, don’t you think?”

Staging a car accident near Stark Industries’ main office after making sure that there was a meeting going on with the superhero present, Ross knew that Stark wouldn’t be able to resist helping. Especially when two of the seven vehicles that were involved were school buses with a bunch of elementary kids inside, on their way to some field trip.

In the end, all it took was luring Stark out of his tin can using a terrified kid inside one of the school bus that was about to explode, and then jamming a tranquilizer on his neck the minute he got close enough.

He was sorely tempted to bring the armor with the unconscious Stark as well, because God knows how long the military had been itching to get their hands on it, but the AI inside would have been presented more trouble than it was worth.

“ _Kids_ , Ross!” Stark continued, livid. “You’ve involved _children_ , I can’t believe you’ve sunk that low, you fucking– “

Ross casually backhanded him, cutting the profanity off. “Careful, Stark, or I’ll cut your tongue off.”

“Oh, that threat won’t work on me.” Stark said, and when he smirked Ross saw that his teeth was bloody. “You want something from me, that much is apparent. Or else you wouldn’t go this far, but guess what? I’ve got nothing for you. “

“I know you know where the rest of the Avengers are, Stark.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“They left you and yet you’re still trying to protect them.” Ross noted, immediately noticing the effect of his words when he saw they guy minutely flinch. “You don’t owe them your loyalty, Stark. If you give their location to me, I’ll let you go. How does that sound?”

“I told you,” Stark glowered, “I don’t know where they are.”

He sighed. “You really have been such a pain on my side for a long time, Stark. First you help the criminals in the Raft escape, you made sure I can’t touch Banner, and now this.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes you just can’t have all the good things in life.” Stark snapped.

“Even if I bring, let’s say, your lovely fiancée into this?” Ross raised an eyebrow.

Like he expected, Stark snorted. “Yeah, goodluck about that. Pepper can kick your ass while wearing five-inch heels.”

While Ross knew that Pepper Pott’s life was very important to Stark, it didn’t carry the necessary impact he needed to shake the billionaire’s composure. The same went to the remaining Avenger’s - but lucky for him, he had a bigger leverage against Stark. 

Ross hummed. “Let’s see about that.”

He waved at one of his men, and in moments one of them placed a manila folder on his open palm. He took the glossy photograph inside and threw it at Stark’s direction, grinning when he saw the superhero’s complexion drop in just a few seconds.

“Peter Benjamin Parker.” Ross said, relishing the facial expression of the superhero as he stared at the photo. It featured the teenager himself, getting out of the apartment complex he lived in together with his aunt, about to go to school.

“What, you think going to some high school event with Bruce Banner will go unnoticed? The minute you two showed up and started talking to some kid, I knew. And Tony Stark just doesn’t attend an event for one of his interns. Although I have to say, Stark, I didn’t expect you to recruit a fifteen-year-old kid against your former teammates. Even if he is Spider-Man.”

Stark snarled viciously, looking up and struggling towards Ross’ direction with more vigor than before. “Ross, you leave him the fuck alone or _I swear to God_ \- “

“What?” He cut him off, laughing. “You’ll kill me? You’re not really in a position to make threats, Stark.”

To punctuate his statement, Ross motioned to the man on Stark’s left, and then with a sickening crack, Stark’s shoulder got dislocated. Enjoying the shout he got in return, Ross grinned. “You can’t even save yourself.” He taunts.

“But- “he added, “I’ll leave the kid alone if you just give me what I want. The rest of the Avengers for Spider-Man.”

“You can go to hell, Ross!” Stark bellowed, and he got a punch to the jaw for that.

Ross clicked his tongue. “Well, I think you need further incentive.” And then with Stark watching, Ross took the hero’s personal phone out of his pocket and showed the screen. It displayed the missed calls on the lock screen, and aside from the notable names of Pepper Pott’s and Colonel Rhodes’, featured was 28 missed calls from Peter Parker.

“It would be bad manners to not return those calls, don’t you think?” Ross mused out loud, and ignoring Stark’s frantic shouts to stop it and not involve the kid, he swiped the call button.

It answered on the second ring, and the breathless voice of Peter Parker resounded inside the empty warehouse they were in. “Mr. Stark! Oh thank god you finally answered, we thought something bad happened!”

Stark apparently gathered his composure already, because when he spoke up, his voice was steady and nonchalant despite his recently dislocated shoulder. Ross would be impressed if it didn’t irk him so much. “Hey, kid.”

“Where are you?” Spider-Man asked, sounding worried. “You’ve been missing for almost a day already- “

“I’m fine.” Tony cut him off, staring straight at Ross, ignoring the gun that was pointed at him at either side as a sign to not do anything stupid. “Don’t worry about me, kid.”

A pause, and then, “Are you sure Mr. Stark? Because you don’t sound too good.”

“I’m _fine_ \- “Stark insisted, voice finally starting to strain. Ross had to hand it to the kid – he was quick on the uptake.

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t just leave the armor lying around.” Parker snapped. “God, I _knew_ there was something going on. Karen, trace the call right now- ”

“Goddamit, kid! Listen to me: stay with Rhodes, okay? He’ll look after you.”

“Stark.” Ross said threateningly.

“Mr. Stark, who was that– “

And then, desperately, Stark yelled. “FRI, Spencer Protocol, _now_!”

Suddenly the phone Ross was holding exploded. It would have taken his hand too, if Ross didn’t let the phone go at the last minute. In the commotion, Stark exploded into action – bringing his uninjured arm back and then slamming his elbow on the face of the man holding him on his right and then head-butting the one who dislocated his shoulder.

Before Stark could even make a run for it though, Ross drew the gun on his holster and fired it at the billionaire’s leg. He went down with a shout, and then Ross’ men were on him before he could even blink.

“Nice try, Stark.” Ross laughed when the billionaire was once again on his knees, this time with five men holding him down.

“You’re not having him, Ross.” Stark growled. “Not him, not the Avengers. So torture me all you like – you’re not getting anything from me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

-

“Secretary, they’re here.”

Ross raised an eyebrow, turning his back from the sight of Tony Stark getting the lights beaten out of him to accept the tablet that was handed to him. It showed the feed from the security cameras around the warehouse, and an alarming number of them were filled with static.

Ross frowned. “That was faster than I expected.” It’s only been twenty-eight hours. “Did you see them?”

“Spider-Man and War Machine were confirmed visually.” The soldier listed. “Vision hasn’t been sighted yet, but we suspect he’s present as well.”

He smirked in triumph. “Good. Follow the plan, we- “

But Ross never got to finish, because suddenly the wall behind them exploded, and Steve Rogers stepped through.

"Rogers?!"

“Nat, get Tony!” the war criminal yelled, before running towards the soldier beside Ross and knocking him out with a blow to the middle. He took the gun from the unconscious soldier and then aimed it at Ross before he could even act. “Stay right where you are, Ross.” Rogers warned.

“Coming here was a wrong move, Captain.” Ross said instead, staying on the ground. On the corner of his eye, he saw a blonde Black Widow efficiently taking out four of his men who’d previously been taking care of Stark while the man himself was being tended to by Clint Barton.

“Didn’t expect us, did you?” Rogers asked, and while Ross hated to admit it, he was right. His plan had only included the presence of members of the Avengers who weren’t wanted by the law, and their presence had thoroughly destroyed everything.

“You shouldn’t have come, Rogers.” Ross growled. “You’re a fugitive of the law and no matter what happens here you’re going behind bars and even Stark won’t be able to save you. You should have left him here alone.”

The super soldier’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been using Tony to find us – of course we’d come for him.” He leaned closer. “Your mistake was messing with the Avengers, Secretary. You won’t be making it twice.”

“Cap!”

Ross looked and saw Spider-Man swinging through the open wall to land on his feet. His white lenses were wide, narrowing and getting a red tint when he caught sight of Ross on the ground. “Is he- “

“I’ll take care of him.” Rogers said.

“You should.” Parker snapped, and Ross saw his hands clench. “Where’s Mr. Stark?”

“Behind you, kid.” A weak voice said, and Ross gritted his teeth when he saw it was Stark, bloody and weak and being supported by Barton on one side.

Spider-Man immediately scampered towards the hero, about to take some of Stark’s weight on his other side only to stop when he saw Stark flinch – it was the side with the dislocated shoulder and broken fingers.

“Mr. Stark…” Spider-Man whispered, lenses going from a narrow red to a wide white.

Despite everything, Stark looked amused. “Jesus, kid, did you just activate Instant Kill?”

“But he _hurt_ you.” Parker quietly said, and Stark didn’t say anything after that.

“He’ll be okay, kid. Everyone let’s go.” Barton called out.

“You go on ahead.” Rogers replied, taking his eyes off of Stark and glaring back at Ross.

“Steve.” Romanoff said. “The others can’t hold them off forever. Let the UN handle it.”

Ross world screeched to a stop. “What the hell are you talking about.”

“Oh, didn’t I mention?” Stark said, all pomp and false-bravado even with all the bruises and the bleeding. “FRIDAY had been recording your villainous monologue before I had her destroy my phone. You can kiss your spotless record goodbye.”

“You son of a bitch- “Ross started, seeing red.

“Well then, if you say so.” Rogers said. And then all of them turned their back on Ross, so convinced of their victory, and he couldn’t think of anything but hurting Stark that he drew the small handgun he’d been hiding on his person and aimed it at the back of Spider-Man, damn the consequences.

There was a loud sound, and Ross only felt the searing pain in his chest when he saw Stark’s repulsor glove aimed at him. It was smoking.

“I told you to leave the kid alone.” Stark quietly said, and it was the last thing Ross heard before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, man. Oh man I'm so not happy with this chapter but you guys have been waiting for almost a month and jfc our bimonthly exam ended just yesterday and I am so tired yo holy shit.
> 
> Anyways, yeah, this chapter got darker. I figured Tony showing up at Peter's school thing with Bruce back in chapter six would have repercussions, and who else would dare touch a superhero billionaire other than Ross himself? Aaaaaand yep, Idiot-vengers finally makes an appearance! I made it so that the original team members appeared, because I'm sentimental like that. Bruce couldn't make it because his version of the Accords states that he can't hulk out without permission. He's waiting back at the compound to patch Tony up though. And we all know where Thor is, so.
> 
> I haven't really cleared things up here, though. Like, how the hell did Steve and the others get there so fast? Are the rest of the Avengers pardoned? The hell is the Spencer Protocol? Also, did Tony just kill Ross?! Answers for the first three will be in the next few chapters, and for the last question: yep. Tony will kill anyone who threatens his kid, and since Ross already knows Spider-Man's civilian identity, I didn't see any way to keep Ross alive with Peter's safety intact. So, voila. I told you this chapter is dark.
> 
> So sorry about the long wait, and another sorry in advance because the next chapter won't make it within this week. Blame medschool. I hope you guys are satisfied with this one, because I sure as hell am not.


	9. Nine: What Steve Saw

**Nine:**

**What Steve saw.**

The quinjet has never felt so small, packed with so much people and filled with so much noise. Everyone were either tired or injured, having escaped the warehouse Ross had been keeping Tony in by the skin of their teeth, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when people’s patience was at its end.

Steve placed a calming hand on Clint’s shoulder as the archer stood up to his fullest height and glared at Vision. “What do you mean, you _don’t know_?” Clint snarled.

Vision put up a placating hand. “It means exactly as I said, Mr. Barton. FRIDAY has protocols whenever Mr. Stark’s life is in danger, so I can only assume that he was not as well as we thought he was.”

They’ve only been flying for a few minutes, with Spider-Man staying adamantly by his mentor’s side when Tony’s breathing started to get labored, which sent the kid into a panic and called for their attention.

Before anyone could do anything, one of the Iron Man suits in the quinjet came to life, encasing Tony in its embrace before blasting out of the aircraft and flying towards the compound, War Machine hot on its heels.

Which left the rest of them in the quinjet, worried for their teammate and completely blind to what was happening to him.

“Clint, it’s okay, we’ll see him in the compound.” Steve said.

“We better.” Clint scoffed. “We didn’t risk getting thrown into prison _again_ for that guy to die on us.”

“ _Clint_!” Sam rebuked, and then pointed at the cringing Spider-Man when the archer turned to glare at him.

“Calm down, man.” Scott said.

“We gave you our word that you would be safe.” Vision continued, and even though his tone was as bland as ever, he was staring at Clint in a way that felt hostile. “Please do not doubt it.”

“We don’t doubt you.” Wanda declared, only to wilt when Vision only afforded her a nod before moving towards the pilot seat.

“Give him time.” Steve heard Natasha tell Wanda, and confident that the older woman could look after her, he proceeded to seat himself beside Spider-Man. He’d been silent the moment Tony was gone, and dimly remembering how talkative he’d been in Germany, Steve was starting to worry.

“He didn’t mean it, you know.” Steve told the masked hero. “Clint, I mean. He’s just as worried as you. He just has a different way of showing it.”

Spider-Man shrugged. “You don’t have to explain, Cap.”

“But I do.” He insisted. “And Tony – he’s a tough guy. He’ll pull through, just like he always does.”

“He’s really gonna be okay?” The younger superhero haltingly asked. “Because Karen – my AI – she told me that Mr. Stark was – his shoulder was dislocated and his fingers were broken and he was _electrocuted_ , he’s not – he’s been there for _two days_ and Mr. Stark’s heart –“

“Kid.” Steve raised his voice, dimly noticing how silent everyone was around them and ignoring it to kneel in front of the kid and place his hands on those shaking shoulders. “ _Kid._ ”

White lenses stared widely back at him, and Steve forced himself to relax, because the kid probably was close to panicking. Natasha told him what happened when she went to visit Tony after he was shot back in Queens. She’d told him how Tony had practically adopted a kid and how much Spider-Man looked up to him.

He remembered when the burner phone he’d always brought with him rang, how he’d answered it and expected Tony’s voice only to hear the frantic pleas of Spider-Man. How he’d _begged_ for him to help Tony despite their fight, and how Rhodes had to take over the call because the kid was starting to be incoherent in his panic.

And Steve understood, because FRIDAY had sent a recording of what Tony and Ross were talking about before the phone was destroyed. The sound of bone being wrenched out of its socket and Tony’s scream would forever be embedded in his mind.

“They’re hurting him!” Steve can remember the raw terror in Spider-Man’s voice, before Rhodey took the phone and started barking about locations and plans and where the rest of the team should be so the quinjet could pick them up.

This time, the fear in his voice was accompanied by heaving breaths and large lenses and a heart beating too fast, and it’s all Steve can do to calm him down.

“He’ll be okay, kiddo.” Steve repeated, voice firm. “We saved – _you_ saved his life, when you thought of the burner phone. Ross never thought of us coming for him, he didn’t plan for it, and that’s why we got him out safely.”

“He’s _safe_ , kid.” Steve squeezed Spider-Man’s shoulder reassuringly, relieved when he was starting to breathe normally again. “And he’ll be okay.”

“Mr. Rogers is right.” Vision spoke up, and Steve and the kid turned around to see the rest of the Avengers silently watching them. “FRIDAY would have told me if anything bad happened, and no news is good news.”

“Okay.” Spider-Man said, voice small. And then, “Sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize.” Sam assured, taking a seat opposite the two of them.

And so passed the entire flight, filled with either halting conversation or brooding silence. Steve made sure to sit beside their youngest superhero, offering his silent support because when they came back, he wanted to tell Tony himself how well he’d taught his young protégé.

When they finally landed on the Avengers’ compound, it was dark outside. Spider-Man was the first to get out, making a beeline towards the med bay and the rest of them were right at his heels.

The compound was deserted, with just the hallway lights guiding their way, until they burst into the med bay and was met first with Rhodes.

“Is he -?” Natasha started.

“He’ll be fine.” Rhodes answered, and everyone let out a sigh of relief in unison. “Bruce was already prepped the moment FRIDAY got Tony to the compound. He’s out of danger now, he just needs some rest.”

“Is he conscious? Can we see him?” Spider-Man demanded.

“He’s awake, alright.” Rhodes snorted, looking exasperated. “Been trying to walk his injuries off, thank god Fury’s got him occupied. You can talk to him after.”

Steve gave a start. “Fury’s here?”

“Yep.” Rhodes beckoned them over. “Come on then, he’s this way.”

The colonel guided them deeper in the deserted med bay, the place almost eerie in its stillness, at least until there was a clatter and when they all turned around, they saw Bruce.

His clothes were splattered with blood, and there were some instruments lying on the floor, but the scientist was staring straight at Natasha.

“Bruce.” She said.

“Hello.” He replied, staring at all of them with quiet intensity. “Tony’s on the first room to your left. You can go inside once Fury’s done with him.”

“Bruce- “Steve started, but was cut off.

“Do me a favor and don’t slam something on top of his heart please.” Bruce said, a little sharply, and Steve flinched. “He needs to rest. If you can’t stop antagonizing him, I suggest that you stay away. He got hurt enough, he doesn’t need all of you fighting him too.”

“Savage.” Steve heart Scott mumble.

“We’ll take it from here, Bruce.” Rhodes spoke up, and Bruce gave him and Peter a nod before he walked towards the exit.

Natasha looked torn between staying with them or going after him, so Steve called her attention. “Go on, Nat.”

Not needing further encouragement, Natasha followed the scientist, leaving all of them to awkwardly stand around until the door to Tony’s room opened.

Fury walked out, closing the door behind him and then raising an eyebrow when he saw the rest of them outside. “Well, this is a lovely reunion.”

“No need to sound sarcastic, Sir.” Clint said.

“I will sound whatever I want to sound, Barton. You!” Fury barked. He pointed at Spider-Man, making the kid jump. “Stark wants you inside. Get in while I give these assholes a proper scolding.”

Spider-Man nodded frantically, walking towards the locked door. He stopped before he could open the doorknob, looking back at Steve.

“Thank you for coming for him.” He said sincerely, and Steve couldn’t help but smile at the simple gratitude.

“Don’t mention it, kid.”

Spider-Man nodded once, and then opened the door and slipped inside.

Steve couldn’t help it – he walked closer towards the room, his enhanced hearing picking up the sound of Tony’s weak greeting and seeing Spider-Man’s silhouette through the half-closed blinds of the windows.

"You're in pain," Spider-Man said instead of hello. He sounded stricken, as if he hurts, too.

“Anesthesia doesn’t work on bones, unfortunately.” Steve heard Tony sigh. “You okay?”

The kid let out a disbelieving laugh, sounding a little choked. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that!”

“I’ll live, kid.” Tony said, and then more softly. “Come closer so I can have a proper look at you.

Spider-Man tottered towards his mentor, and even with the mask on and his back to him, Steve knew he was still terrified. Tony seemed to know it too, despite the multitude of painkillers Bruce must have pumped into him, because the moment the younger hero got close enough, Tony raised his good hand.

“I think we’re already there, kid.” Tony smiled, and it must have meant something for Spider-Man, because after a second of staring the kid just slumped on top Tony and let out a muffled sob.

“You did good, Pete.” Tony said, using his hand to pat the top of Spider-Man’s head, voice gentler than usual. “I’m proud of you.”

Steve forced himself to look away, the expression on Tony’s face too vulnerable, too fond. Watching them felt like an intrusion.

He saw Fury right beside him when he averted his eyes. “Ross?” He inquired.

“We got a clean-up crew there the moment you guys left.” Fury answered, walking away from the door of Tony’s room and leading Steve on a corner. “It was a clear case of self-defense, and if you add the recording FRIDAY sent, you guys are set.”

“Tony killed for that kid.” Steve stated. “Without a moment’s hesitation, without a second thought.”

“Is that an accusing voice I hear?” Fury raised an eyebrow. “Careful there Cap, you’re starting to sound like a hypocrite.”

“That wasn’t what I was trying to say!” He protested.

“You have done a lot worse for that old buddy of yours.” Fury snapped. “For a lot less. At least Tony had his head on straight when he shot Ross.”

“Of course I had-“

“You were compromised, Rogers! You don’t leave a soldier lying alone in fucking _Siberia_ without a way out and with his sternum caved in!” Fury finally shouted. “You both fucked up, that much is clear. You got both of your heads so jammed up on your asses you couldn’t hear each other, but you know what? You don’t get to act all high and mighty when you made a decision for your friend without his consent, said screw you to the fucking United Nations, and then leaving with a stupid-ass letter that’s not even a proper apology!”

“You knew.” Steve accused. “You knew that Bucky –“

“Of course I knew, Rogers!” Fury rolled his eyes. “I was Peggy Carter’s second-in-command when the Winter Soldier bashed Howard Stark’s face in with his fist!” He raised a finger at Steve’s face. “But the Director swore me to secrecy, because at that time we weren’t even sure it was really Barnes, and she loved her godson like he was her own and Director Carter didn’t want this on his shoulders. So I zipped my mouth shut, and hoped to God Stark didn’t find out.”

Steve was barely processing through the fact that Peggy – his Peggy – was Tony’s godmother, was wondering why on Earth Tony didn’t tell him anything, but Fury was still talking.

“But you found out. And you were his friend, so I thought, ‘Rogers will tell him.’ He’s all for that teammate thing where nobody fucking keeps secrets on each other. _Especially_ when it concerns the other - but you didn’t.”

“And now this whole Accords thing got blown out of proportion.” Fury’s voice was starting to level out, but Steve remained staring at the floor. “It would have all worked out if you just compromised, Rogers. Now look at the mess we’re in: we’ve got a war coming in, four of you have your hands tied and the rest of you assholes are wanted by the goddamn government.”

Steve had to unclench his jaw to speak. “I didn’t want Tony to find out this way. I made a call, and I thought that, if I didn’t tell him, he’d be happier. About not knowing.”

“We can't make people's choices for them, Rogers.” Fury said. “We do that and we're monsters or gods.”

-

“Rhodey said you came as soon as you could. Thanks for that.”

Steve shrugged, giving Tony a small smile. It was a day after they rescued him, since Tony had been so exhausted after talking to Spider-Man that he drifted off and Steve didn’t have a chance to talk to him.

Using the evidence FRIDAY had gotten during the kidnapping, Tony’s lawyers were currently finding a way to undo the criminal status of the other Avengers. But until it was official, Steve and the others still had to be in hiding. They were moving out of the compound after a few hours, and Steve wanted to talk to Tony before that.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Tony.” And Steve genuinely meant it.

“You know, I wouldn’t have believed that a while ago.” Tony said. “But you risked getting caught when you barged inside that warehouse and saved my ass so – yeah.” He looked up and smiled at Steve. “You really came when I needed you, huh.”

Steve felt a little bit like crying. “Yeah. Yeah, of course I came.”

They shared a smile, and the tight feeling in Steve started to loosen. Here it was: the proof that maybe, it wasn’t too late. He opened his mouth to say something when he heard a small whir outside the windows.

When he turned to look, he saw a drone shaped like a spider hovering outside. “Spider-Man?” Steve asked when he saw Tony smirk and wave at it. Vision had informed him this morning that Tony apparently ordered the young hero to go home and rest, much to Spider-Man’s chagrin.

“Kid can get a little protective.” Tony sighed in mock-consternation. “Speaking of which, he was groaning about him freaking out in front of all of you yesterday. Never seen him blush so much.”

Steve laughed, and he saw the spider drone finally leave the window. “It’s okay. He was worried about you. We understand.”

“And Tony – I’m sorry.” Steve continued, needing to get this out of his chest. “I am so, so _sorry_ about your parents. I was wrong, I should never have kept it from you, and I’ve been such – such an asshole to you.”

“Language.” Tony weakly said, and Steve huffed out a laugh.

“You are my friend.” Steve said, remembering what Tony had said that day in Siberia, and needing to let him know. “And I’ll understand if you’ll never forgive me. But I would spend the rest of my life atoning for it, if you would let me.”

Tony stared silently at him for a few moments, and Steve made sure to meet his eyes the entire time. The engineer then cracked a smile. “Well, I can’t forgive you just yet. But you’re off to a great start.”

Steve grinned. “I can work with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't reach my Halloween deadline, guys, I am so sorry! It's been almost a month of waiting for you guys, so you're in for a treat! This is an extra long chapter - featuring our very own Steven Rogers!
> 
> For those of you who were looking forward to some epic confrontation, sorry to get your hopes up. I couldn't let Tony go through another round of shouting again because he's been through enough with the whole torture thing. The Steve I had in mind is really guilty about what he did, now that he had a lot of time to think about it. Notice that he didn't apologize for Bucky, because he knows now that he has no right to do it in his friend's stead. Bucky's fault - or the Winter Soldier - is his own; Steve's mistake was not telling Tony about his parents, as well as not compromising. He knows that now, so he's not as incorrigible as he was back in Civil War. Also, I kinda put a lot of Stony moments in there, so for those of you who doesn't like the pairing, sorry. It's just, I just couldn't help it omfg.
> 
> Poor Peter nearly had a panic attack because he thought he was gonna lose a father-figure again. He probably thought it was a heart attack, but it's only angina pectoris. It's chest pain because your heart muscles are not getting enough oxygen, and one of its symptoms is pain radiating from your chest, sometimes originating from your left arm. To those really observant ones - Tony's been having numbness on left arm on CW and is repeatedly shown rubbing it in Homecoming. Its a symptom of coronary heart disease - which I think is not far off considering his age and his lifestyle pre-IM. Sorry about the impromptu medical talk, but I'm a big fan of the headcanon of Tony having heart problems.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! I also hope it was worth the wait. Thank you for all your lovely reviews last chapter, I'm glad this story still gets you. Till next time, my lovelies!
> 
> PS. THOR RAGNAROK HOLY MOTHER OF GOD IT WAS HILARIOUS AS FUCK AND LOKIIIII AND THOOOOOOR OH MY GOD IT WAS PERFECT ALSKDGAUSF


	10. Ten: What FRIDAY Saw

**Ten:**

**What FRIDAY saw.**

To celebrate the fact that his shoulder and fingers were finally healed and that his kneecap was about to be, FRIDAY’s creator immediately dropped himself on the bench of the grand piano in the Avengers compound and opened the keyboard cover.

“Boss- “She said reproachfully, even knowing that her creator would just ignore it. “Your fingers just healed. You really should take it easy.”

“Do you know how bored I’ve been, not even allowed to wiggle my fingers?” Tony demanded, wiggling said fingers on the nearest camera after propping his crutch on a nearby coffee table. “I feel magnificent, FRI, at least let me have this.”

It was times like these that FRIDAY wished that she had a physical body to smack her creator with. As a sort of last-ditch tactic, she located Dr. Banner in the third floor laboratory to tell him about his patient’s quest to destroy all his hard-work the second Tony was okay.

To FRIDAY’s consternation, Dr. Banner only chuckled. “It’s okay, let him play.”

“But Dr. Banner- “

Two floors down, her creator was laughing himself silly. “Did you just tattle to Bruce? Oh my god, baby girl, you snitch!”

“You’re going to re-damage your fingers at this rate.” FRIDAY argued pleasantly.

She wished Ms. Potts were here, but her creator’s fiancée had a business to attend to in Australia and had to immediately leave after a brief visit. Even Colonel Rhodes would be a good ally, but the man was taking a small vacation with his family after the stress FRIDAY’s creator had subjected him to with the kidnapping, so no one was on the compound except for her creator and Dr. Banner.

Just to prove her wrong, Tony started playing Friedrich Burgmuller’s Ballade, a particularly wild melody that required the superhero's fingers to move fast. FRIDAY was starting to get a little exasperated, but then again, this was her creator.

“Are you sure Boss is going to be okay?” FRIDAY asked Dr. Banner.

“Yes. He’ll need to exercise anyway, to take off the stiffness. Playing the piano is an excellent therapy.” The scientist was starting to clean up. “I’m going to sleep. Tell Tony not to exhaust himself, please. Or the big guy won’t be pleased.”

FRIDAY relayed the message, and her creator smiled. “Hulk likes me; Bruce is a lying liar that lies.”

“Just don’t overdo it, Boss.”

“You worry too much.” Tony said, the melody slowing down until he was playing Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

“Someone has to.” FRIDAY bantered back, falling silent.

She only spoke up after a while when she felt her sensors outside the compound activate. “Boss, the young spider is outside.”

“Is he knocking again?” he demanded. “Please tell me he’s not knocking.”

“He’s knocking, Boss.”

“That kid, honestly.” Tony sighed, much to FRIDAY’s amusement.

Ever since the kidnapping, Peter Parker seemed intent on sticking to her creator’s side whenever he had the time. When school was done every Friday, Peter would do his daily patrols around Queens and then proceeded to go towards the compound after dinner with his Aunt’s by seven. It was a routine that Peter never failed to follow, even two months after.

True to form, Peter was right outside the front door and knocking politely on the glass, even though Tony had repeatedly told him that he’s been granted a level five clearance and he could let himself in without announcing his presence.

“Hello? Anyone home?”

FRIDAY obligingly opened the doors. “Good evening, Peter. Boss is at the first floor receiving room.”

“Thanks, FRIDAY.” Peter cheerfully said, tugging the strap of his backpack higher on his shoulder. “How was Mr. Stark today?”

“Dr. Banner pronounced his fingers healed just recently.” FRIDAY answered dutifully. “Aside from that, he’s the same as ever. Also, Boss said that you could leave your things in your room before you meet him.”

“Copy that.”

Peter had been getting what he dubbed as ‘Superhero Lessons’ every Saturday ever since the incident. Captain Rogers had mentioned how Peter did good in their mission to save Tony, but he would improve more if he had his bases covered. Tony had immediately arranged to rectify it, with Colonel Rhodes acting as teacher whenever Tony himself was too tired or sleeping.

Peter had never missed a lesson, had been absolutely ecstatic when he learned that it was Tony who would teach him. As a result, his patrols were going smoothly than ever before, a report that was not even biased because it was Karen who relayed it to them. Crime rates and injuries recorded by the teenager’s AI coincided with his improvement as well.

“How about his leg, FRI?” Peter continued, after dropping his backpack in his room and was on his way to his mentor.

“Still healing.” FRIDAY dutifully replied, gently amused at the questions. The boy had learned early on to never trust Tony’s answers regarding his health and instead either asked the AI or Dr. Banner, even Colonel Rhodes if the scientist wasn’t available.

Two floors down, FRIDAY’s creator was grumbling to himself as the AI reported what Peter was currently asking.

“I swear, it’s like I gained a younger version of Rhodey.” Tony grimaced, hands moving against the piano keys. “Only cuter, and more puppy-like.”

“He called me a puppy again, didn’t he?” Peter deadpanned from his place inside the elevator when FRIDAY went tellingly silent.

“Boss mentioned something about hovering.” FRIDAY teased.

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t need to if he’d just look after himself more.” Peter grumbled, and then perked up when he heard the strains of the melody Tony was playing through the closed doors of the elevator.

“Is that Mr. Stark?” he curiously asked.

“Yes, Peter. Boss wanted to celebrate the fact that his fingers are healed and is currently playing the piano.”

The elevator doors opened then, and Peter walked towards the origin of the music. When he finally arrived in the sitting room, Tony - who was in the middle of playing - stopped to greet his protégé.

“Woah.” Peter said, finally seeing the grand piano and eyeing his mentor with renewed interest. “You can play the piano too?”

“You say that as if I know how to play another musical instrument.” Tony huffed, sitting straighter on the bench and closing the covering of the keyboard as Peter perched himself on the side of the piano, peering down at his mentor.

“Well, I can’t play _anything_ , so that’s kinda impressive for me.” Peter grinned, and then, “Why’d you stop? Oh, hey, hey! Play something for me!”

Tony blinked.

FRIDAY, if she’d been human, would have winced. Boss didn’t play the piano for anyone ever since his mother died. Even if every one of his mansion had a grand piano somewhere, Boss didn’t touch it whenever someone organic was around. Not even for Colonel Rhodes or Miss Pepper, no matter the cajoling or the bribing he got.

It was a surprisingly sore subject, and she was cycling through things to say when, to her immense surprise, Tony shrugged.

“Sure, kid.” Tony carelessly shrugged, opening the keyboard once again, and then suddenly he was playing Try To Remember.

Oblivious to the fact that he was enjoying a privilege not even Miss Potts and Colonel Rhodes ever had in all the years they’ve known the older superhero, Peter listened raptly. He alternated between looking at Tony’s fingers or face, even mimicking some movements, and then closing his eyes to merely listen, a small smile on his face that was equally mirrored on his mentor’s.

When the piece was finally done, Peter applauded enthusiastically, and Tony grinned and gave a flourishing seated bow.

“That was awesome, Mr. Stark!” Peter laughed, clapping so hard that FRIDAY wondered if it hurt a bit.

“I am awesome.” Boss agreed, smirking when Peter let out a playful scoff.

“Just because you can play something and I can’t.” Peter pouted, and then blinked when Tony suddenly scooted to the left and patted the seat beside him.

“Well, we can’t have that.” Tony smiled. “Come over here and let me teach you a thing or two.”

“Wait, what?” Peter asked, a look of surprise on his face. “But – but Aunt May said that I was tone deaf!”

Tony stared incredulously for a beat, gaping at Peter who seemed to only realize what he said just now, before the older superhero almost folded in the middle and started guffawing.

Peter scowled and murmured, “Stupid mouth, shouldn’t have said that.”

Tony’s only reply was a louder set of gleeful laughter.

After a few minutes, with Peter sulking all the while, Tony finally stuttered to a halt. “Christ, kid, please never change.” He snickered, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, yeah. Make fun of me, why don’t you.” Peter pouted.

“You just make it so easy, you know that?” Tony chuckled.

“Well I’m sorry if I don’t want to waste your time!”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Who said I was wasting it? Being unable to properly sing the national anthem doesn’t automatically mean you can’t play the piano, you know.”

“Oh my _God_ , Mr. Stark –“

“But seriously, Pete.” Boss finally schooled his face into a smile, patting the side of the bench again. “Want to learn?”

“Yeah?” Peter frowned, dragging out the word and eyeing Tony distrustfully. “You’re really serious?”

“As a heart attack.” Tony solemnly nodded, and then slowly, Peter’s suspicious stare turned into a bright smile.

“Well, if it’s no bother. I mean. I’d – I would like that.” He said, taking the seat to his mentor’s right, still beaming happily.

Tony smirked. “Alright kid, listen. To play the piano…”

FRIDAY silently watched as Boss took Peter’s hands and positioned them above the piano keys, and she started recording. It was the first time in a long while that the AI saw her creator smiling that way. The way he always did before he started to voluntarily carry the weight of the world in his shoulders, so that no one would have to.

Vision had once remarked to the Colonel when the both of them had been present on one of Peter’s superhero classes, that being a teacher suited Mr. Stark. FRIDAY couldn’t help but agree.

When Peter successfully managed to completely play a round of Itsy Bitsy Spider without committing an error, Tony clapped the teenager on the shoulder, looking mightily pleased.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad, wasn’t it?” Tony asked. “You got it down pretty fast, kid.”

Peter shyly ducked his head, shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah. Well, I had a great teacher.”

Boss blinked, looking for a second like he was at a lost, before he huffed and used a hand to ruffle the top of Peter’s head. “Alright, you little charmer, it’s time to have your beauty rest.”

Peter immediately whined. “Oh come on, Mr. Stark, teach me another one! It’s still early, see?”

“Yeah, no.” Tony started nudging his protégé out of the bench, ignoring the teenager’s protest. “You’re going to get up early tomorrow, kid, and I don’t want you dozing off in the middle of your lessons because you stayed up late.”

“But-!”

“I’ll teach you again tomorrow, how about that?” Tony compromised, and Peter thought about it for a second.

“You promise?”

“Yes, yes, I promise.”

“Deal!” Peter grinned, jumping to his feet. “You should sleep too, Mr. Stark. You’re still healing.”

“ _Hovering_.” Tony reminded.

“I’m telling Miss Potts.” Peter threatened.

“Oh for the love of- “Tony groaned, rolling his eyes heavenward to the background of Peter’s laughter. “ _Yes_ , I’ll go to sleep after a while, Pete.”

Peter narrowed his eyes. “You promise?”

“Since when did I break a promise to you?” Tony defended.

“Just checking.” Peter grinned. “I’ll hold you to that, okay? Goodnight, Mr. Stark! And thank you for the piano lessons.”

“Goodnight, kiddo.” Tony smiled fondly, staring at Peter’s retreating back until the elevator doors closed.

After a few minutes had passed, Tony glanced at the nearest wall where one of the cameras were situated on. “He on his room yet?”

“He is, Boss.” FRIDAY replied.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “You’re still recording, aren’t you.”

“You didn’t tell me to stop.” The AI pleasantly replied.

Tony stared at the camera, looking like he was considering something, before he nodded quietly to himself. “FRI, get a proper shot of my face, please.”

The AI immediately did so. “Done, Boss.”

“Save it to my servers after, alright?”

“Yes, Boss.”

Tony nodded approvingly. He took a moment to arrange himself properly on his seat, covering the piano keys slowly, before turning to look at the camera closest to him.

He smiled.

“Hey, Peter. It’s Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got the lowest quiz scores I have ever had today, and I just needed a pick me up and writing some major father-son bonding from these two seemed to do the trick.
> 
> Hey, guys! I'm alive, and here to post another chapter. I wrote FRIDAY like a human being in this one, because how even do you write an artificial intelligence's point of view without resorting to codes? I honestly wanted to use one of the humans for this chapter, but I figured that Tony wouldn't play the piano around Peter unless it was through the eyes of FRI or one of the bots. I mean, there must be a reason why the films never showed Tony playing right? So, yeah, you guys got FRIDAY for chapter ten.
> 
> I hope you like this one! I always wanted to write a chapter where Tony teaches Peter how to play the piano, and I'm pretty much content on how this one turned out. It's really just shameless papa-son bonding, because the song Tony played for Peter was the one Maria sang back in Civil War. It's a really pretty song! Also I don't play the piano, so I'm sorry if I didn't get too detailed on the piano lesson. Anyway - enjoy this chapter, hope it was worth the wait!


	11. Eleven: What T'Challa Saw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Warning: spoilers for Black Panther.)

**Eleven:**

**What T’Challa saw**

After his speech in front of the entire United Nations - as well as the whole world – T’Challa, Okoye, Shuri and Nakia climbed down the stairs of the podium with the audience still screaming their questions and saw Tony Stark waiting for them at the bottom.

“Brilliant speech, your majesty.” He said in greeting, taking off his sunglasses and standing straighter from his slouch. He gave a polite bow of his head to T’Challa’s companions. “Ladies.”

“Tony Stark.” T’Challa smiled, offering a hand. Stark shook it with a strong hand. “I am glad to see that you are doing well.”

And he was. Dressed impeccably in a three-piece suit, the older man had both feet steadily supporting him on the ground. T’Challa could still remember how Steve Rogers had sounded when he told him through one of Shuri’s encrypted communications device how Stark had been badly injured.

Said man shrugged, walking alongside T’Challa with the others falling back behind them, but not before the king aimed a warning glance at his sister. “A little birdie told me that I have you to thank for that.”

“Someone mentioned your knee was still troubling you.” T’Challa said vaguely.

“Bruce was in tears.” Stark grinned at the memory. “He’s never seen anything like it, it was brilliant. Your tech is amazing.”

T’Challa could practically _feel_ Shuri preening in the background. It would not do to inflate her already big ego. “Surely it is not, for it had taken you three weeks to recover.”

A muted growl in the background. Stark raised an eyebrow when he saw T’Challa’s lips twitch minutely, but apparently let it go when he continued. “Well, it’s still a hell of a lot faster than what’s normal. So – thank you. For your help.”

T’Challa smiled. “We are glad to help.”

“Already using the royal ‘we’, huh.” Stark said. “How’s kingship doing, by the way? You must be stirring up a lot. Wakanda has never done this before.”

‘This’ being the fact that he finally revealed just how advanced his country actually is. T’Challa dimly remembered what the faces of each countries representatives had looked when he showed them exactly how far his country is ahead of any of them.

“It is – different, I suppose.” T’Challa admitted.

“Yeah well, you’ll rise to the occasion.”

“You speak as if you have experience on the matter.”

To T’Challa’s surprise, Stark gave him the bare bones of an honest smile. “A whole country can’t compete with a superhero boy-band, but it is the same principle all the while.”

It was at this point that Shuri could not hold herself any longer. Before T’Challa could think of a reply to that, his little sister bounded in front of the superhero and declared, “Your tech needs a lot of help!” She all but accused, and then relented. “Although your arc reactor is brilliant as well, can I see it?”

“ _Shuri_!” T’Challa was aghast. The sheer audacity of his sister would have his father rolling in his grave, and he was very glad at that moment that their mother did not want to come.

“What? It is!”

Okoye marched towards them and grasped Shuri’s upper arm in a tight grip, about to drag the princess to the back when Stark, who was previously struck dumb, spoke up. “Wait, no, hey, it’s alright.”

“Mr. Stark, I apologize for my little sister –“

“Seriously, it’s fine. I like honesty.” Stark waved his apology off. “Princess Shuri, right?”

“Right.” Shuri shrugged Okoye off and gave him a look that said ‘ _see?_ ’. Ancestors help him.

“What are your thoughts about my armor then?” Stark asked, and his tone was pure curiosity. Shuri went off immediately, pinpointing the faults and explaining how she would have made everything better, and T’Challa silently despaired and hoped that his little sister’s exuberance would not offend anyone.

To his credit, Stark didn’t look offended. As a matter of fact, he looked like he was silently taking notes, and he wasn’t bothering to cover up the fact that he looked very impressed. Through his embarrassment, T’Challa felt pride for Shuri.

“All valid facts, of course.” Stark gently cut his sister off when they finally saw that they were at the hangar where the Wakandan version of a flight craft was parked. “But you have to remember, I use titanium alloy for my armor. The melting point is too low. Installing a blaster that hot would make the metal melt, as much as I would like to use that.”

Shuri blinked. “Huh. I forgot you weren’t using vibranium.”

“Well, you fight with the weapons you have.” Stark said.

T’Challa knew the man meant nothing about it, but the king could still feel guilt lancing through him. Would the superhero not have been that badly injured, if his country had helped earlier?

“You know princess, if your country hadn’t been all about secrecy, I bet you’d be one of greatest minds of the world.” Stark mused.

Shuri _glowed_ , and T’Challa decided that enough was enough. “She does not need any more encouragement, Mr. Stark, but I thank you all the same.”

“Don’t rain on my parade, bro.” Shuri scowled, punching him on the arm before looking back at Stark. “Hey Iron Man, once the Wakandan embassy is finished, we really need to talk.”

“Shuri will be the head of the Science and Information Exchange Department, once the building will be finished.” T’Challa explained.

“I’d like that.” Tony smiled. “I’ll bring a sample of my arc reactor as well.”

“Awesome!”

“Alright Shuri, you had your fun.” Okoye said in Wakandan, ushering his sister towards the aircraft with Nakia beside her. The three of them boarded the plane, but not before his general afforded Stark with a nod of her own.

It was more than what she had afforded Ross, which meant that Stark, at least, was an American that was in her good books.

“Thank you for humoring her.” T’Challa said when they were alone in the hangar. “Shuri hasn’t had someone to talk about her passion with technology back at home, so she’s a little enthusiastic.”

“You kidding me? That kid’s gonna go places. She’s only what, fifteen?” When T’Challa nodded, Stark whistled. “Goodness, so smart at such a young age. She’s probably even smarter than me. You must be proud.”

“I am.” T’Challa agreed. “But I have to ask, Mr. Stark, why are you here? You are a very busy man.”

Stark stared at nothing for a few moments. “You know, your offer to help other countries has never come at a more appropriate time.”

“Oh?”

“Well, it’s better discussed at somewhere private, anyhow. You have any free time before you go back home, your majesty?”

-

The next day saw T’Challa outside the Avengers compound, being admitted inside by Stark’s AI.

“Good morning, Your Majesty King T’Challa.” The AI formally greeted him when the doors opened. No one was in sight. “If you would please follow the lights, it will lead you to where Mr. Stark is.”

Yet another one of Stark’s technological marvels. Shuri had been disappointed when T’Challa did not allow her to come today, having heard of the AI Stark had been famous for, because she had to go back home to attend to Sergeant Barnes' full recovery.

“Thank you. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage though.” T’Challa said to the room at large, dutifully following the overhanging lights.

“My name is FRIDAY, your majesty. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” The AI’s voice sounded sincerely delighted.

The lights led T’Challa in front of an elevator. He was expecting it to open, but he had not been expecting the sight he was greeted with. When the elevator doors opened, inside was Iron Man and Spider-Man in full regalia, only Stark had the younger hero in a headlock and was rubbing the top of his head vigorously with his bare knuckles. The faceplate was gone, and Stark was grinning wildly while the younger hero was yelling in protest, halfheartedly prying Stark off.

“-nooooo you know that’s not fair, oh my god, Mr. Staaaaark!”

“Eat _this_ , kid, just because I’m in my forties doesn’t mean I can’t wipe your ass on the floor like the infant that you are –“

“Cheater! _Cheater_! You had FRIDAY on your side, that’s cheating!”

“Yeah, and you have Karen on yours. I told you time and time again to use everything you have at your disposal!”

“And you neede – oh my god.” Spider-Man stuttered to an abrupt halt, having been the first to spot that they had an amused audience.

Stark blinked, relinquishing the younger hero from his grip when he finally saw T’Challa. Spider-Man hastily rearranged his mask as he and Iron Man stepped off the elevator. “Oh hey, your majesty. You’re early.”

“I apologize if I interrupted something, FRIDAY let me in.” T’Challa replied, entertained despite himself.

“She didn’t say anything about that.” Stark raised an eyebrow, aiming a glare at the nearest camera.

“You were otherwise occupied, boss.” The AI cheekily replied. “Besides, if I’d announced King T’Challa’s presence, Spider-Man wouldn’t have lost.”

The hero in question squawked in protest, and even in the mask he looked thoroughly embarrassed.

“That he wouldn’t have.” Stark grinned, the armor starting to disengage around him until it became a suitcase on the ground which he picked up. He slung an arm around Spider-Man once he was down to his shirt and slacks. “Your majesty, I trust you remembered Spider-Man? Kid, this is King T’Challa of Wakanda.”

“Of course I have.” T’Challa smiled, offering a hand. The two of them hadn’t had the opportunity to talk in Germany, since he was still too wrapped around the death of his father that by the time everything had calmed down, Spider-Man was already gone. “Well met.”

“It’s really nice to meet you too, Sir!” Spider-Man’s grip was steady, shaking his hand with great enthusiasm. T’Challa was abruptly reminded of his little sister. “I mean, your highness. Your majesty? Um, I mean –“

“You’re embarrassing me here, kid.” Stark was trying to cover up a laugh despite his words.

“ _Mr. Stark!_ ” He whined. T’Challa went on the high road and resolutely did not laugh.

“Don’t worry, your mentor has nothing but good things to say about you when you’re not around.” T’Challa said to placate the younger man, and it was true.

There had been many instances in their short meetings before when T’Challa would find Tony Stark laughing uproariously at his phone, and when he’d ask, the billionaire would say ‘Spider-Man’ in between sniggers.

“Oh god, that’s not really assuring.” Spider-Man despaired, somehow managing to project his gloom clearly through the mask.

“Drama queen.” Stark snickered, not denying anything. “Alright, kid, go take a shower, you stink.”

“Not helping!”

“And the adults need to talk.” He pushed the mask hero towards another hallway. “C’mon, chop chop, kid. Shower, and then homework.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.” Spider-Man drawled, trudging to the other side of the room but not before bidding T’Challa a mortified goodbye.

Stark was still snickering when Spider-Man’s silhouette finally disappeared and the two of them were walking towards Stark’s lab. “Christ, that kid is a train wreck.”

T’Challa tried to hide a smile but failed. “And yet you sound so fond.”

“He has his charms.” Stark acknowledged. “Remind me to introduce him to your sister. Kid needs someone smart to talk to.”

T’Challa gave an agreeing hum. “What were you two doing before I came?”

“Superhero lessons.” He promptly said, elaborating when T’Challa raised an eyebrow. “Every Saturday, the kid goes here to learn a thing or two about saving people and saving his hide. I normally teach him, sometimes Rhodey or Vision does. Bruce should have been the one to teach him today about control, but jolly green is needed elsewhere, so I stepped in.”

“You really rose to the occasion.” T’Challa remarked.

Stark looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Yesterday, when you asked how I was doing as king. You mentioned suddenly being in charge of the Avengers when your teammates had to leave, and comparing it to my sudden ascension as king.” T’Challa explained. “You’re doing well, Mr. Stark. I am glad.”

His companion looked surprised and perhaps a little grateful. “You’re not doing so bad yourself, your majesty. And really, just call me Tony. These days only the kid calls me that.”

“Very well, Tony. Call me T’Challa then, as one leader to another.” He clapped a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Now, on what matter did you call me here for?”

-

By the time Tony and T’Challa resurfaced from the lab talking about extraterrestrial threats and powerful gems, Vision, Bruce Banner as well as Colonel James Rhodes were already back at the compound.

Introductions barely passed T’Challa’s mind when it was still reeling from the information the billionaire just dropped on him, but the other heroes seemed to understand. They must know, then - as they should.

Tony had told him that only Spider-Man was the only one left not to know, and that he was reluctant to include their youngest superhero. T’Challa could understand. If it was Shuri, who was the smartest person he knew, he wouldn’t know what to do as well.

“Stay for lunch.” Tony said after the introductions. “Brucey’s cooking, you _have_ to stay.”

“If you’re not too busy.” Colonel Rhodes interjected. “Don’t let this guy pressure you into anything.”

“Mr. Banner’s cooking is very good.” Vision inputted.

“No pressure.” Banner repeated, giving him a small smile.

T’Challa thought about it and said, “I wouldn’t say no to free food.”

“Excellent.” Tony grinned. “His Tikka Masalla is to die for.”

“Did anyone say Tikka Masalla?” a familiar voice asked, and then a second later a young man rounded the corner to stare at them all. “I _love_ Tikka Masalla.”

“I know you do, kid.” Tony said. Reeling at finally seeing just who exactly was under Spider-Man’s mask, T’Challa was not yet gone as not to see the inquiring look the older superhero aimed at his protégé.

Spider-Man shrugged, and the wordless conversation passed only for a second before Tony announced. “Alright, Brucey, Rhodey, Vision and I are going to the kitchen. Kid, feel free to give His Pantheryness a tour of the compound.”

With that, the others left until it was only the two of them. The young man – a teenager, really – walked towards T’Challa and offered a hand, smiling all the while. “Nice to meet you again, your majesty. I’m Peter.”

“I am honored, Peter.” T’Challa solemnly shook his hand. “Know that your trust will not be squandered.”

“It’s nothing, geez.” Peter laughed, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully when the handshake was done. “I mean, Mr. Stark seems to like you. So.”

T’Challa remembered just moments ago when they first met at the compound’s elevator, when Spider-Man had looked at Tony as if he was lost and his mentor was a compass – and the king compared it to the moment when he and Tony were back at the latter’s lab, when the inventor had probed if asking for vibranium was allowed.

Not as surprised at the turn of events, T’Challa asked just how much of the precious metal Tony was asking for. He had answered immediately.

T’Challa did the calculations inside his head and said, “That would not be sufficient for an entire Iron Man armor, I think.”

The other man shrugged. “Well, it’s not for me.”

“For whom are you giving it to?”

“The kid.” The billionaire revealed. “Who else? He’s gonna need all the protection he can get. If what it would take to keep him alive is a piece of metal, I would grovel in front of you if I have to.” He eyed T’Challa apprehensively. “Although I’m hoping it would not come to that.”

T’Challa was honestly surprised at that. Spider-Man and Tony Stark were that close? “You would go that far for him?”

Tony silently fiddled with a spare metal while looking at him, and after a few seconds of contemplation stated, “I killed Ross so he wouldn’t die. I would do it again, and not regret it.”

Smiling ruefully, Tony continued, “It terrifies me what I would do for that kid.”

Now, staring right at Peter and understanding that the teenager decided to tell him his identity just because his mentor liked T’Challa, the king finally realized how the two were important to each other.

“Just because Tony trusts me, you trust me as well?” T’Challa asked, and Peter nodded.

“Yeah. I mean, he must have told you, right? That something’s going to happen soon.”

T’Challa’s eyes narrowed. He knew for a fact that Peter was not told about Thanos. Was this a trick question?

“Not that I know anything.” Peter hastily cleared, looking slightly flustered. “I honestly don’t really know the details. No one’s told me anything, I swear. But – they can’t fully hide it, you know? Mr. Stark and the rest of the Avengers are always busy, like they’re preparing for something. Something big.”

Tony _did_ say that Spider-Man was an intelligent young man. “You’re not going to ask him about it?” T’Challa inquired, not agreeing to anything.

Peter shrugged. “Mr. Stark must have a reason to keep me in the dark. I mean, it’s kinda annoying how everyone’s in on it and I’m not – but I kinda understand. As long as Mr. Stark knows that I’m always here for him, it’s okay.”

“And he’s not alone, right? He’s got a lot of people on his side, like me and Mr. Rhodes and Vision and Dr. Banner and now you. He didn’t know that before, but he does now, so I’m confident that, whatever’s gonna come? He’ll take care of it.”

“You say his name as if it can conjure miracles.” T’Challa noted, and Peter smiled.

“One of things I learned once I started hanging out with Mr. Stark is that, if he puts his mind to it, he can do anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO'S ALIVE AND STILL KICKING AND ABSOLUTELY SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU GUYS FOR MONTHS WITHOUT ANY UPDATE? 
> 
> I am sooooorrryyyy!!! Seriously! The eleventh chapter was always going to be T'Challa, but I had no idea how to write him and then I realized, hey his movie is gonna come out in a few months, so I just left his off until I got to watch Black Panther in Valentines Day. I mean, better for you guys to read something that's really based on his characterization than have something sub-par, right?
> 
> So I hope you like this extra-long chapter! I just HAD to start with the first ending credit scene, because no words can truly express how much I've come to adore Shuri in just a span of two hours and I JUST HAD TO put a scene where she interacted with both T'Challa and Tony. She and Peter are gonna go along like a house on fire, I am so betting on that.
> 
> As always, this hadn't been beta'd. If there are any errors, throw me a comment. If you loved it, throw me a comment. If you hated it, I'd love constructive criticism. If you just want to scream at me about the pain we're definitely going to endure by the time Infinity War comes in, GIVE A COMMENT. No promises about giving a reply - honestly I can't have the time to reply, my schedule's so full now - but know that your comments are so, so loved by me. Thank you guys for your unending support. I wouldn't be able to reach the eleventh chapter without your lovely reviews.
> 
> PS. So I finally finished Final Fantasy XV and I just gotta say? REGIS AND NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM ALKSJBAJKLDS THEIR FATHER AND SON RELATIONSHIP IS FUCKING BEAUTIFUL THAT I JUST SEE PETER AND TONY EVERY TIME I WATCH A CUTSCENE. Familial relationships FTW.


	12. Twelve: What Shuri Saw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Insert a gif of Mushu yelling 'I LIIIIIIIVEEEEEE!!!!!')

**Twelve:**

**What Shuri saw**

Shuri fidgeted impatiently on the landing pad of the newly built Wakandan Embassy, aiming an irritated glance at her older brother when he let out a muffled chuckle.

“He’s late.” Shuri nearly snarled, mentally giving her etiquette lessons the middle finger and crossed her arms. “Do you know the amount of supervising I could be doing instead of waiting out here? The SIED still isn’t fully furnished, Brother!”

If Shuri knew how much work being the head of the Science and Information Exchange Department actually was, she would have turned down her brother’s offer faster than he could say ‘vibranium’. Getting her technology shipped from her country to the States was way too much work, what with the paperwork and bureaucracy, and her temper was starting to fray.

“Calm down.” T’challa patted her shoulder. “It hasn’t even been five minutes. They’ll be here.”

“And that’s five minutes of getting my equipment set up – wait. ‘They’? I thought it was just Stark?”

“Tony and I have something important to talk about, and since I don’t want you butting in on our conversation-“

“Hey!”

“-he’s bringing one of his interns here to keep you company. You two are about the same age, and Peter’s smart. He’ll be able to keep up with you.” T’challa continued.

Shuri was intrigued despite her annoyance. “Stark has interns?” She asked, and then frowned. “Don’t think I’m letting that bit about you implying that I’m nosy go, Brother.”

“I’m sure you won’t.” T’challa put a hand in his pocket before looking back at the Oakland skyline. “And yes, he does. I’m sure you both will get along well.”

Shuri sincerely doubted that. Being a part of the royal family had already made sure that making friends with people her own age was a hard task, and adding the fact that she was a veritable genius made her accept that she was better off creating new technology in her lab.

“ _Finally_ ”, she sighed, spotting the rapidly forming shape of a quinjet heading straight for them. “Took them long enough.”

T’challa managed to shoot her a quelling look before the aircraft touched down on the hangar. A second later, the quintjet’s ramp opened up and the two siblings saw two figures descend.

Shuri saw Stark first, looking like he just came out of an important meeting because he was still in a bespoke suit. His get-up contrasted with the person he was with, and Shuri eyed the teenager walking alongside the billionaire. This was the guy who could probably keep with her?

“He doesn’t look like much.” Shuri whispered to his brother, getting a swat in the arm in return. She winced, and barely managed to see the kid with Stark wincing in return.

“ _Shuri_.” T’challa warned, shaking his head before starting to walk towards their guest. Shuri mentally resigned herself to babysitting and walked beside her brother so they met the other two in the middle.

“Your majesty, it’s good to see you.” Stark immediately offered a hand towards her brother. “You too, princess. Sorry we’re late, I had to pick this kid up from school first.”

“Mr. Stark!” his companion hissed.

T’challa laughed. “It’s quite alright, Tony. I trust you’re doing well, Peter?”

The kid called Peter nodded vigorously, still looking a little bit embarrassed. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for asking your majesty.”

“Peter, I’d like you to meet my sister Shuri. She will be the one to head the SIED.” T’challa introduced, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“Woah, really?” Peter asked rhetorically, smiling at her. “Hey, that’s pretty cool! I’m Peter.”

He looked, as far as Shuri could see, genuinely impressed. Shuri’s narrowed eyes smoothened out and she smirked. “Of course I am.” She said haughtily.

Her brother’s ire translated into the arm around her tightening, but Peter just looked taken aback while Stark snickered and patted his intern on the shoulder once and then left his hand there.

“Still a firecracker, I see.” Iron Man said. “Don’t scare him too badly, princess, he’s a good kid.”

“I apologize for my sister.” T’challa said in return. “I’m afraid she doesn’t know how to interact with people her age yet.”

Shuri wordlessly smacked her brother in the back in response.

“Shall we?” T’challa continued looking unmoved, the bastard.

“We shall.” Stark nodded

The two teenagers let their older counterparts do the talking as they headed towards the SIED. Shuri barely heard their small talk since she was mentally thinking of the things she had to do once she was finished looking after Stark’s kid while the adults did their own thing.

She was in the middle of a technological triage when she felt her brother shake her on the shoulder.

“Shuri.” T’challa frowned, sounding exasperated.

“Sorry, sorry.” She hastily said, shrugging out of her brother’s hold. She saw Stark talking with Peter a few ways away while she tried to pay attention to what T’challa was saying.

“-for Bast’s sake, try making friends while I’m gone.” He implored. “Or if that’s too much for you, you can look at it like an exercise in diplomacy. You can tell Mother all about it back home. She’ll be very proud of you.”

“Don’t be condescending.” Shuri scowled, and then crossed her arms. “But fine, I’ll babysit.”

“ _Shuri_.”

“I’ll try making friends.” She amended. “But! You’ll owe me bigtime, Brother.”

“Yes, yes. We’ll be back soon, don’t worry.” T’challa nodded, and then looked behind her. Stark must have finished talking with his intern then.

“Ready to go, your majesty?” Stark asked, a hand still on his intern’s shoulder. “Great. Princess, I’ll leave Peter in your hands.”

Shuri very blatantly rolled her eyes at the theatrics, prompting a laugh from the billionaire and a despairing sound from her brother. “Just go, you two.”

When the door closed behind the two adults, Shuri whirled around to look at Peter and placed her hands on her waist. Before she could say anything though, he beat her to it.

“Um, you don’t have to look after me.” Peter burst out, looking embarrassed while tugging at the backpack slung on his shoulder. “I mean, you can do what you want. I can just – uh – sit here in the corner. I’m really sorry if Mr. Stark just sprung this up on you. I’ll stay out of your way. Don’t worry! I won’t tell them anything. Sorry again.”

He looked so earnest about it that Shuri felt a tiny bit guilty. Okay, so maybe she’d been a bit harsh with him. But she still had difficulty apologizing outright to her family whenever she did anything wrong, much less a total stranger, so she settled with the one thing they could probably talk about.

“My brother said you’re into Science.”

Peter looked taken aback at the sudden change of topic but answered nonetheless. “Um, I guess? I mean, I study at a great STEM school and Mr. Stark help me out sometimes – “and then he cut himself off with a strangled sound.

Shuri was wondering if she somehow broke the guy when he spoke up again, sounding excited and looking a lot more animated. “Is that the _Black Panther suit_?”

Oh right, she’d forgotten about that. “Yeah, my idiot brother doesn’t know how to take care of things I make for him so I had to do some maintenance on it again. How he managed to damage pure vibranium is beyond me- “

“ _Oh my God you created Black Panther’s suit_.”

Shuri jolted a little when she looked back and saw Peter standing closer to her and was blatantly looking at her in admiration.

“That’s so cool!” Peter babbled. “You said it’s pure vibranium? How did you manage to put the entire suit in that little necklace? Did you use nanites? That fact that the structural integrity isn’t compromised after all that compaction is _amazing!_ ”

He wasn’t even disguising the fact that he was gushing. Shuri grinned. Okay, so maybe he isn’t too bad.

What followed was a rapid-fire explanation on how Shuri managed to encase an entire bulletproof suit inside the Panther’s claw necklace, and she was further questioned by Peter after she was finished explaining. Shuri was pleasantly surprised that her brother was right and that he really could keep up with her, albeit after a few clarifications.

When Peter further proved that he was smart enough to even offer suggestions on improvements, Shuri demanded how Stark managed to snag him as an intern. Which was when Peter let it slip that he was actually a superhero in training.

“You’re Spider-Man?!” Shuri exclaimed, and then, “Huh, that actually makes a lot more sense.”

Peter looked puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, Stark doesn’t look like the type of guy that befriends his interns. Does he even have interns aside from you? I’m betting he doesn’t -” and then Shuri stopped, because she saw that for the first time since he came here, Peter was frowning.

“Mr. Stark’s not that bad.” Peter defended.

“He wouldn’t have taken you under his wing if you were a normal human being though.” Shuri pointed out.

“So?” Peter asked, sounding like he was starting to get really worked up over the issue. “He’s a busy guy. He’s the forefront of clean energy, he’s doing superhero stuff aside from that and he still manages to make new things-“

“Peter –“

“- _and_ on top of all that he makes time to train someone like me, who doesn’t have a clue on what he’s doing and I probably annoy him sometimes but he still helps me! Mr. Stark-“

“Peter!” Shuri shouted, getting the guy to stop talking for a few minutes so she could say, “I didn’t mean it like that! Ancestors. I wasn’t backstabbing your dad, okay, I know Stark’s a good guy. Jeez.”

Peter stared at her for a few moments before saying, “He is a good person.” He insisted.

“I know that, I was just – ugh.” Shuri eyed the ceiling to heave out an enormous sigh before looking back at Peter. “I apologize. I was out of bounds.”

To her relief, Peter was quick to forgive. “It’s alright.” And then he frowned again. “He’s not my dad.”

“ _For Bast’s sake.”_

“Sorry, sorry.” Peter sheepishly replied, finally starting to smile again. “Hey, what were you saying about those kimoyo beads?”

Shuri pointed at the prototype tech she’d been explaining the use of to Peter until he went all protective over his _dad_. “If you activate the restriction mode, these beauties can whip out electromagnetic suspension charges and effectively immobilize people. It’s good if you want to arrest someone without harming them. But I guess you don’t need these, huh, Spider-Man?

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, you could just whip out your spider web, right?” Shuri rolled her eyes, to which Peter sheepishly laughed at. “Did Stark make that too?”

“The webbing? Nah, I made that.”

“Oh, so you’re an inventor?”

“I guess so.”

“Huh, useful. It’d be pretty hard to buy something for a billionaire who already has everything.”

Peter blinked at her. “I’m starting to get really tired of saying this, but what are you talking about?”

“Uh, your dad’s birthday?” Shuri raised an eyebrow. “I remember it was last month, or something. You must have made his gift yourself, since I can’t see you buying him a tie or sunglasses. Those are pretty expensive. No offense.”

A beat. And then, “ _WHAT?!”_

Shuri probably jumped, she was so surprised. “What the heck, Peter?!”

“Mr. Stark’s birthday was last month?! Why didn’t I know that?” Peter demanded. “Wait, how do you know about that?”

Shuri scowled. “I heard my brother talking to him on the phone –“

But Peter wasn’t listening, too busy having a mental breakdown. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I didn’t know! I mean, I was busy with finals, but that’s no excuse! Oh man, I’m a horrible person. I’m a sorry excuse for a human being. I’m so – ow! Hey, that hurt!”

Shuri pointed a finger at him after slapping him on top of his head. “I really doubt that. And stop panicking! You can still make him something. I’ll even help.”

“But I missed his birthday!” Peter whined.

“Then say sorry and then give him a gift!” And her brother told her _she_ was dramatic.

“I don’t have materials!” Peter added.

“You’re literally in my lab.” Shuri deadpanned. “Everything you’re ever going to need is right here, don’t be insulting.”

“But they’re your things, I don’t want to impose-“

“I told you I’d help.” Shuri said. “That means you can use my things. No buts! Think of it as a proper apology for what I said.”

“But you already apologized-“

“Will you accept my help or not?” Shuri finally demanded.

Peter paused. And then he smiled.

-

Three hours later – ‘We’ll be back soon’, ugh, her brother needed to update his vocabulary – just as Shuri was finishing the last touches of Peter’s gift, the guy let out a noise and then suddenly was whipping the small device from her worktable and jamming it in his jeans.

“Hey! What are you –“

“They’re here, they’re here!” Peter whisper/shouted, looking panicked. “We’ve gotta clean up, c’mon c’mon!”

“How the hell did you know that?”

“No time, no time! Just, Shuri, we’ve got _eight seconds_!”

Caught up in the guy’s hysteria, Shuri started running around the lab and scooping out any evidence that could point out what they were doing for the last hours from the floor and throwing it at an empty cabinet. “In here!” She hissed, motioning for Peter to do the same.

Shuri just managed to shut the cabinet after Peter threw the screwdriver he’d been holding from six meters away when the door to her lab opened and Stark and her brother came inside, still chatting.

Which abruptly died down when the two adults finally saw them, clear across the room and breathing heavily. Stark’s eyebrow rose along with her older brother’s.

“Everything alright here?” Stark asked.

“Yeah!” Peter immediately replied. Like _that_ wasn’t suspicious at all. Seriously, how did the guy managed to keep his identity secret? “Yeah, Mr. Stark, no worries.”

“We weren’t interrupting anything, weren’t we?” Stark asked again, this time with a smirk on his face.

“Oh my god, stop, it wasn’t like that.” Shuri said, because her brother was starting to get a dangerous look in his eyes and he was looking straight at Peter.

“It better not be.” T’challa muttered darkly, and at any other time it would be hilarious, but Peter just told her he had a crush on someone named Michelle at school and sure he was pretty cool for a colonizer but Ancestors, Shuri didn’t like him like that!

“Whatever you say, kids.” Stark laughed loudly, clapping T’challa on the shoulder. “C’mon Pete, your Aunt’s probably looking for you now. Say your goodbyes.”

Shuri made sure the cabinet was closed before following her brother and the others towards the hangar. This time, it was the teenagers who filled the air with technobabble while the adults gave them fond looks. Shuri even managed to pick Stark’s brain a little concerning his arc reactor technology, at least until they arrived where the quinjet was parked.

“You must come back.” Shuri demanded. “The two of you, as soon as possible. I still want to talk about the reactor, Stark.”

“I must agree with my sister.” T’challa added, now smiling. “It was good to talk to you, Tony, Peter.”

“You too, your majesty.” Peter replied while Stark gave her brother one last handshake.

With T’challa and Stark busy with formalities, Shuri looked at Peter and mouthed, _‘Text me’._

‘ _I will_ ’, Peter mouthed back.

And then they were gone.

-

“Tell me, what were you really doing with Peter?”

Shuri groaned, turning around and tried to punch her brother in the arm only to be thwarted. “I told you, it wasn’t what it looked like!”

T’challa looked gravely back at her. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Shuri cried, exasperated. “I was just helping him on something, I swear.”

“Help him on what?” T’challa pestered.

Just then, Shuri felt her kimoyo bead vibrate. Immediately bringing it to eye-level, Shuri activated the bead and a hologram popped up on the air before her.

**HE LOVES IT THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU - P.P.**

Shuri smirked. “Just a little something for his dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, y'all. I have no excuse. I mean, school ended back in June but I'm only updating now since I really took advantage of the fact that I could now sleep for ten hours without guilt. (Also I'm a second year now. YAY!)
> 
> I can't believe I've missed a lot of things! I've missed Tony's birthday and father's day, so I guess I transferred my guilt to Peter and now he's scrambling for a gift lol. But hey, Shuri to the rescue! A lot of you people have been asking for her, so here you go. I hope this makes up for months of absence. I had to watch Black Panther again to get a good grasp on her character though, and I had to repeat the scene where she talks with Ross (Martin Freeman) again and again. She's sarcastic and a smart-ass, but as soon as Ross talked about the hover-trains she invented, she was smiling. She's a little bit of a brat, but she's a good kid. Just appreciate her inventions lol. Also, Peter's gift is gonna be mentioned in later chapters in case someone asks.
> 
> (And I guess it goes without saying that I've already watched Infinity War and the whole film just absolutely fucked up with the trajectory I was taking my fic in BECAUSE HOLY FUCKING SHIT I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY DID THAT WHAT THE FUCK. So have a happy fic for chapter twelve because I guarantee you, chapter thirteen is where we finally start with IW.)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! I made this in one sitting, just looked over it for corrections once and immediately published it, since everyone was commenting on making an update and I just felt so guilty. Tell me if there are some grammar errors? I'm really prone to making them.
> 
> See you guys next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Civil War piqued my interest, Homecoming killed me, and that stupid Infinity War trailer killed me good. Peter and Tony's gorgeous father-son relationship is the one saving grace the MCU writers did ever since that Ultron fiasco. God bless.
> 
> So I honestly wanted an expansion of their interaction, since we saw only a peek of it with Homecoming, and I thought, man, I wanna see how the Marvel characters react to seeing Tony goddamn Stark - who the movies portrayed as some kind of villain EVEN THOUGH HE'S NOT FFS - be so emotionally invested on this kid. And then see that said kid equally adoring his mentor.
> 
> Anyway, I don't have a beta, so expect some grammar errors, or some out of character dialogue since I'm basing the whole thing on the movies and just mildly on the comics. I'd love constructive criticism!


End file.
